FIA claims thwarting human trafficking bid
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claimed on Friday to have thwarted a major human trafficking attempt at Islamabad Airport under the guise of Umrah visas, offloading and detaining five individuals, including a 16-year-old boy.
The suspects were attempting to travel to Saudi Arabia and Libya before travelling by sea to Italy. The Agency has already initiated strict screening procedures at airports and borders to combat human trafficking.
During one such check at Islamabad Airport, the immigration officials found that five suspicious passengers including Miraj Khan, Usman Khan, Asad Ali and Murtaza Ali were travelling on Umrah visas to Saudi Arabia.
After detailed interrogations, the officials offloaded five passengers, including a teenage boy, and took them into custody. The suspects intended to travel from Saudi Arabia to Libya and then via sea to Italy.
The suspects had negotiated with two agents, Wajid Khan and Faisal Khan, and paid them Rs3.9 million each. During the search, two Egyptian visas were recovered from the suspects.
According to the FIA authorities, the remaining Saudi visas were supposed to be provided by sub-agents in Saudi Arabia.
The suspects were transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Islamabad for further investigation. The timely action by FIA Immigration exposed the human trafficking network.
FIA nabs three
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Islamabad Zone claimed on Friday to have arrested three accused involved in a fake visa scandal and human trafficking. The suspects used to act as representatives of Saudi companies.
According to the authorities, the arrested accused identified as Sikandar Zeb, Mehboob and Mazhar Iqbal were taken into custody during a raid in Rawalpindi and at Lahore airport.
Sikandar Zeb posed as a representative of a Saudi company and committed visa fraud worth millions of rupees. The accused extorted huge amounts of money by tricking native citizens into providing Saudi Arabian work visas.
Another accused Mazhar Iqbal tried to go to Morocco on a fake passport in 2019.
The action against the accused was taken at the request of the Pakistani Embassy in Morocco. The accused were arrested while fleeing abroad from Lahore airport.