Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested Mohammad Iqbal, the largest suspect behind the deadly 2023 boat button of Greece that demanded life for over 250 Pakistanis. The suspect was arrested at his arrival at Lahore Airport on Monday.
The tragedy took place in June 2023, when a crowded vessel carries hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, hijacked and sank in international waters near the Greek coastal town of Pylos.
The disaster was one of the deadliest boat tragedies ever registered in the Mediterranean, highlighting the dangerous and often deadly journeys made by migrants seeking better economic opportunities in Europe.
The FIA said that Iqbal, a resident of Libya since 2013, was involved in operating a trafficking of human trafficking that illegally sent Pakistani citizens to Europe via boats.
The Agency is traced to illegal transactions worth RS80 million ($ 287,356) from his bank account. He has been booked in several cases registered with the FIA Lahore Zone.
“The suspect drove a human trafficking network from Libya,” the FIA said in a statement. “He illegally sent several Pakistani citizens to Europe from Libya via boats.”
Fia Lahore -Director Sarfraz Virk emphasized that the agency’s crash on the network of human trafficking was underway. “Strict penalty will be met to traffickers responsible for boat events,” said Virk. “The FIA teams are in constant contact with the affected families.”
In addition, last month, the FIA issued red messages for 20 foreign people involved in the Greek boat tragedy. A red message is a request from Interpol Member States to locate and arrest people for extradition.
The Greek tragedy is part of a broader question about migrants from Pakistan, many driven by financial difficulty that risk their lives in dangerous crossings to Europe.
In December 2023, five Pakistani nationals died in a shipwreck at Greece Gavdos Ø. Recently, a boat near Morocco’s coast on January 15 with 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis. The Foreign Office confirmed that 22 survivors were found.
