LAHORE:The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Immigration Lahore foiled a human smuggling attempt at the Allama Iqbal International Airport and offloaded five passengers after uncovering a network to smuggle individuals to East Timor and New Zealand via Malaysia.
According to an FIA spokesperson, the operation began when immigration officials subjected a passenger to secondary scrutiny, leading to the discovery of a well-organised illegal migration plan.
The spokesperson said digital evidence recovered during the inquiry helped identify four additional passengers linked to the same network.Investigations revealed that a facilitator based in Malaysia was allegedly operating the human smuggling network and coordinating the movement of passengers to their intended destinations.
According to FIA officials, each passenger had allegedly paid Rs5 million for the illegal migration arrangement. The passengers were reportedly instructed to obtain further travel documents upon arrival in Malaysia before proceeding to East Timor and New Zealand. All five passengers were offloaded and handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Lahore for further legal action and investigation.
Man held for human smuggling
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Lahore arrested a suspected human smuggler allegedly involved in migrant smuggling and visa fraud during a raid in Sheikhupura.
According to an FIA spokesperson, the accused was identified as Musaddiq Hussain and was apprehended during an operation. The spokesperson said that the suspect had allegedly obtained Rs575,000 from a citizen on the pretext of arranging a work visa for Cambodia. During the course of the inquiry, it was revealed that the accused had allegedly sold the victim to a blacklisted company in Cambodia in exchange for $10,000.Further investigation was underway, added the spokesperson.
Duo held for copyright violations
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Corporate Crime Circle Lahore on Thursday arrested two suspects for allegedly violating copyright laws and seized a large quantity of counterfeit products of registered companies during a raid in the provincial capital.According to an FIA spokesperson,the accused, identified as Umar Afridi and M Umar were arrested during a crackdown conducted in Lahore.
