Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested 257 people in December for trying to travel illegally to Iran by sea, as authorities stepped up efforts to combat people-smuggling and illegal border crossings.
According to an FIA spokesperson, the arrests were made by the agency’s Composite Circle Gwadar during a series of intensified operations targeting illegal maritime movements. The suspects were intercepted while trying to leave Pakistan through the coastal belt without valid travel documents.
The arrested persons belong to different districts of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Among them are 34 foreign nationals, including 30 Afghan nationals, two Bangladeshis and two Iranians, the spokesman said.
The spokesman said the suspects were apprehended from Jiwani, where they were preparing to cross into Iran illegally by sea. Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had planned to use Iran as a transit point to travel on to other countries by illegal means.
Of the Pakistani nationals taken into custody, 142 belong to Punjab, 63 to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12 to Sindh while the remaining suspects are from Balochistan, according to FIA officials.
They said cases have been registered against the arrested persons and further investigations were underway to identify facilitators, traffickers and networks involved in human smuggling and illegal border crossings.
The FIA said a nationwide crackdown on human traffickers and those involved in illegal cross-border movement was continuing, adding that all available resources were being used to arrest those facilitating such activities.
