Karachi: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Immigration foiled two separate attempts to illegally travel to Europe and Belarus under the guise of Umrah and visit visas at Jinnah International Airport.
According to FIA officials, five passengers attempting to reach Italy via sea were offloaded from flight PA-170 bound for Saudi Arabia. The passengers — identified as Raheedullah, Abdul Hameed, Abdul Shakoor, Ismail, and Ahmadullah — hailed from Bannu, Peshawar, Khyber, and Mohmand districts.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had contacted agents in Peshawar and planned to travel from Saudi Arabia to Egypt, Libya, and then illegally cross into Italy by sea. Each had allegedly paid Rs4.5 million to the agents, with Rs1.5 million more to be paid upon arrival in Libya.
The passengers were handed over to the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Karachi for further legal proceedings.
In another operation, FIA Immigration officers intercepted two passengers — identified as Muhammad Aakash and Asad Rehman, both residents of Kotli, Azad Kashmir — attempting to illegally travel to Belarus on visit visas.
The passengers were offloaded from flight FZ-330 bound for Azerbaijan. During clearance, officers found their documents suspicious. Investigations revealed their connection with an agent based in Rawalpindi.
FIA discovered that Asad Rehman’s passport had been tampered with, containing missing visa pages. Fake protector stamps, counterfeit visas, and forged police character certificates were also recovered from their luggage.
Digital evidence retrieved from their mobile phones included images of fake Azerbaijani work visas, bank transactions, and forged documents. The suspects had allegedly paid Rs1.6 million each to the agent, including Rs1.4 million through cash and bank transfers.
Both passengers were also transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Karachi for further investigation
