Karachi: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Immigration Wing at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport has foiled an alleged attempt to reach Spain illegally via Morocco by offloading a passenger travelling on a Moroccan business visa.
The passenger, identified as Farhan, son of Abdul Sattar, was intercepted during immigration clearance after officials found discrepancies in his travel profile and referred him for secondary screening.
According to the FIA, Farhan told investigators that his Moroccan business visa had been arranged by an agent, Fawad Maqbool, through Nextstep Consultants Pvt. Ltd. in Lahore. A search of his belongings led to the recovery of a Moroccan business visa, documents relating to a previously rejected Belarus visa application, letterheads of Farhan Traders, and business cards.
The FIA said voice messages, chats and other digital evidence recovered from the passenger’s mobile phone indicated that he intended to travel from Morocco to Spain by boat through an illegal migration route before proceeding to other European countries.
Investigators also found evidence of his alleged contacts with Usman and other suspected facilitators linked to an illegal human smuggling network.
During questioning, the passenger admitted paying Rs1.8 million to the agent to arrange the visa and travel.
Based on the preliminary findings, FIA Immigration officials offloaded the passenger and handed him over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle (AHTC), Karachi, for further investigation and legal action.
