Punjab police ex-official involved in women trafficking under Umrah visa

FIA foils trafficking attempt of four women being sent to Saudi Arabia

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The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Immigration has successfully thwarted an attempt to smuggle four women to Saudi Arabia under the guise of Umrah visas, revealing a human trafficking network involving a former Punjab police official.

The women were offloaded at Karachi Airport after being found to be heading for Saudi Arabia, where they were allegedly being sent for forced labour, Express News reported.

The women, identified as Shazia Bano, Zameera Azeem, Lubna, and Sana Shehzadi, had previously been sent to the Gulf kingdom under similar circumstances.

Investigations revealed that the key figure behind the trafficking ring was a woman named Asiya, a former employee of Punjab police, who had funded the victims' travel expenses.

Additionally, a man named Waseem Gujjar, an agent, had been facilitating the women’s stay and other expenses in Saudi Arabia.

In another operation, FIA arrested two passengers, Ellis and Ryan, who arrived in Pakistan on emergency passports. The suspects arrived on flight number SV700, and their emergency passports were found to be fake.

The statement noted that the emergency stamps on the passports were fraudulent, and the citizenship of the two suspects was also found to be questionable.

Both suspects were transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Karachi for further legal action, and investigations are ongoing.

Last month, FIA Immigration team foiled a major human trafficking operation at Islamabad Airport.