FIA captures 7-member human smuggling gang in Karachi

KARACHI: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested seven individuals during a massive operation against an alleged human smuggling network in Karachi, officials said on Monday.

The raid was conducted out by the Anti Human Trafficking Circle on the instructions of the FIA director Karachi Zone, an FIA spokesperson said. The operation was conducted in North Nazimabad where the accused allegedly maintained offices in the name of numerous organizations.

The group is charged with tricking people into believing they would be given jobs and permits for European countries and collecting enormous sums of money from applicants, investigators said.

During the raid, agents of the FIA found hundreds of Pakistani passports, guns, purported fake police uniforms, laptops and other items that investigators said could be evidence. Authorities said the defendants operated out of a rented building that was purportedly the network’s office.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused reportedly charged the victims between Rs800,000 and Rs1 million each on the promise of abroad jobs and visas. Of the applicants, several did not get visas or their money back, the FIA said.

The agency also said some group members, apparently dressed in fake police uniforms, pressured and threatened victims when they asked for refunds or updates on their applications.

So far, FIA has identified 52 alleged victims and attempts are ongoing to find further complainants and collect further evidence, the FIA stated.

The allegations involve a network that investigators believe may have been engaged in people smuggling and financial fraud for the past five years, although those allegations are still being investigated.

The FIA stated that the investigation had been widened to identify and arrest other alleged facilitators and to analyze the group’s financial transactions. The investigation is ongoing and no judge has ruled on the allegations yet.