Caught at Karachi airport after profiling revealed insufficient funds; agent network revealed during interrogation
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). PHOTO: FILE
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday offloaded 23 passengers at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport. An FIA spokesman said the individuals attempted to travel to Malaysia on visitor visas with the intention of working illegally.
The passengers traveling on flight D7-109 admitted during questioning that they planned to stay over and work illegally in Malaysia. They came from various areas including Karachi, Lower Dir, Mardan, Swat, Bajaur, Bannu, Gujrat and Peshawar.
Read: 66,154 air travelers relieved this year, FIA tells NA organ
Investigations revealed that the passengers traveled through an agent, Muhammad Owais, who said visas had been arranged by a passenger, Waseem Khan, through another agent named Stefan. Payments for visas were made via bank transfers.
Immigration checks revealed that the passengers lacked sufficient funds and failed to provide the mandatory bank statements required for Malaysian visitor visas.
Read more: The LHC declares unloading passengers without written justification illegal
The passengers were handed over to FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Karachi for further verification and prosecution.
The FIA told a parliamentary panel this week that it has offloaded more than 66,000 passengers this year to prevent organized networks from facilitating illegal travel. Earlier this year, the Lahore High Court ruled that immigration officials cannot detain passengers based solely on verbal orders, following a series of detainment incidents across the country.
