The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has intensified its crackdown on smuggling, illegal migration and human trafficking, offloading a female airline crew member and two passengers at the Jinnah International Airport, and arresting two suspected human smugglers linked to a Cambodia-based online scamming network.
According to FIA Immigration officials, they offloaded a female cabin crew member of an international airline at the Karachi airport after recovering a large quantity of prohibited items from her luggage.
The flight attendant, travelling on a Pakistani passport with a Saudi exit re-entry visa, was heading to Saudi Arabia when she was marked as suspicious during immigration clearance. She was stopped by the government reporting officer (GRO), and her travel documents were examined.
During questioning, the crew member said she has been serving as a flight attendant with the Saudia airline since 2014, and frequently travels due to her job. Owing to her suspicious behaviour, officials conducted a detailed search of her baggage and recovered 26 bundles of cigarettes, nine packets of Adab gutka, 24 sachets of Rajni tobacco and three shopping bags of betel nuts.
During interrogation, the woman allegedly admitted that she had been involved in the illegal transportation of prohibited and commercial goods for the past six months. She also disclosed that 10 to 12 other crew members have also been involved in the same illegal activity.
She reportedly admitted that she had been clearing prohibited items during departures by bribing officials of different departments and the airline staff, and had been smuggling goods to Saudi Arabia multiple times a month.
In the light of the facts, the crew member was offloaded and handed over to the FIA’s Anti-Corruption Circle Karachi for further legal proceedings. The immigration authorities also offloaded two passengers at the Karachi airport over their suspected illegal departure and the alleged involvement of an agent in facilitating their travel to Sierra Leone. The passengers, Muhammad Shareef of Shaheed Benazirabad and Majid Ali of Sanghar, were travelling on Pakistani passports with visit visas for Sierra Leone. During immigration clearance, the counter officer referred them to the GRO for further scrutiny of their travel documents and profiling.
Upon examination, it emerged that both individuals had been offloaded on January 29 due to unpaid hotel bookings, insufficient funds and an unjustified purpose of visit. During questioning, the passengers disclosed that on the same date, seven individuals were reported to the Turkish Airlines, out of whom two, Ahmed Ali and Muhammad Shareef, had attempted to travel but were offloaded for similar reasons.
The passengers revealed that they had been hired for work by Chinese national Hongjin allegedly working in Tharparkar. According to their statement, the arrangement was made through Ahmed Ali.
Immigration officials said the passengers had earlier attempted to depart from the Islamabad International Airport and the Multan International Airport but were denied clearance by immigration authorities. It was also disclosed that Ahmed Ali, after being offloaded, subsequently managed to depart for the same destination on February 5, 2025.
Officials recovered chat conversations between Ahmed Ali and the passengers regarding immigration clearance. The two men admitted to paying Rs300,000 each in cash to an agent, identified as Amjad Ali Arain of Malir City.
Despite holding two-month visit visas, the passengers were found carrying only $150 each to cover their expenses, raising further suspicion. In view of the facts, both passengers were offloaded and referred to the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Karachi.
The FIA also arrested two alleged human smugglers involved in sending Pakistanis to Cambodia, where they are forced to work in an online scamming network. According to an FIA spokesperson, four Pakistanis were recently deported from Cambodia with the remarks “Working in Scamming Company”. Upon arrival, they were handed over to the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Karachi for legal proceedings.
During the inquiry, it was revealed that they had been lured with promises of legal employment abroad, and were charged between Rs400,000 and Rs700,000 each. However, upon reaching Cambodia, they were confined in specific compounds and forced to work for an online scamming network. They later managed to escape and returned to Pakistan using emergency passports.
Investigations uncovered evidence of involvement by Furqan Ali, Syed Irfan Ali, Ali Raza, Hadi and their accomplices in human smuggling activities. Following the registration of the case, Inspector Babar Ali activated sources to arrest the suspects. On February 25, two of the suspects, Furqan Ali and Syed Irfan Ali, were apprehended during a successful operation.
