ISLAMABAD: In a major crackdown on human trafficking networks, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has foiled two separate illegal immigration attempts at the Islamabad and Lahore airports, offloading a total of five passengers bound for Europe via Azerbaijan.
In the first incident at the Islamabad International Airport, FIA Immigration authorities detained two passengers attempting to travel to Azerbaijan on visit visas. The individuals were intercepted during departure clearance and referred for secondary profiling after drawing the suspicion of an immigration officer.
During subsequent questioning, investigators discovered that the passengers were travelling together and that one of them had negotiated with an agent to secure illegal entry into Italy for a fee of Rs3.5 million. Preliminary findings linked their travel arrangements to an organised human smuggling ring, prompting officials to take them into custody. Both individuals have been handed over to the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle (AHTC) in Islamabad for formal legal proceedings as investigators work to identify the facilitators behind the operation.
Meanwhile, a similar attempt was intercepted at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore, where FIA Immigration offloaded three passengers — a father and his two sons — before they could board Pakistan International Airlines flight PA-468 to Baku.
The family was stopped at the immigration counter and sent to the verification desk for advanced scrutiny. A search of their belongings and mobile devices uncovered Albanian visas, digital evidence related to Serbia, and chat logs with suspected human smuggling agents.
The passengers confessed that an agent had arranged a transit route through Azerbaijan and Serbia to smuggle them into Italy.The family revealed they had agreed to pay Rs4 million per person for the journey and had already handed over an advance payment of Rs3.4 million each to the agent. The three passengers were immediately transferred to the AHTC, Lahore.
