SHIKARPUR — Local police intercepted a passenger bus on the National Highway early Tuesday, taking 14 undocumented individuals into custody. The group, reportedly attempting to reach Karachi, lacked valid travel documentation and identification papers.
Officers pulled the vehicle over near the Lakhi area following a tip-off about suspicious movement on the route. When asked for travel permits, the passengers—who officials confirmed were foreign nationals—could produce nothing.
The detainees were shifted to the local police station for further questioning. Investigators are now working to determine their point of entry into Pakistan and whether they were being facilitated by a human smuggling network.
“We are currently verifying their nationalities and tracing who organized this transit,” a senior police official said. He declined to name the specific country of origin, citing ongoing interrogation.
The bus driver and his conductor were also detained. Police have impounded the vehicle as part of the investigation.
Authorities have recently ramped up surveillance along the Sindh-Balochistan border, a common transit corridor for illegal border crossings. For the local administration, the challenge lies in dismantling the smuggling rings that charge these individuals hefty sums for safe passage to urban centers like Karachi.
The 14 detainees remain in police custody while the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prepares to take over the case. For now, the investigation centers on whether this was an isolated incident or part of a broader, organized trafficking operation heading south.
