The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) immigration wing at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, offloaded a passenger attempting to travel to Saudi Arabia after he was found carrying a fake driving licence.
The passenger was travelling to Saudi Arabia as a driver on a work visa and protector clearance. During the immigration clearance, officials found the driving licence presented by the passenger to be suspicious.
According to the FIA, the identity card number printed on the licence did not match the passenger’s actual CNIC number. Furthermore, scanning the QR code on the licence produced details of an unknown individual, reinforcing suspicions that the document was forged.
During the initial questioning, the passenger admitted that he had never approached any driving licence office for the issuance of the document. He disclosed that the licence had allegedly been arranged in exchange for payment by an agent identified as Syed Ameer Shah, resident of Rawalpindi.
The passenger further stated that his Saudi work visa had been obtained through another agent identified as Umair, while the protector clearance had been processed through another firm.
In view of the suspected use of forged documents and the circumstances surrounding the case, the immigration staff offloaded the passenger and referred the matter to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle (AHTC) for further investigation and legal action.
