Daily Times

At least 30 passengers set for travel to different countries were offloaded from planes at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi late over suspicion of human smuggling, officials from the immigration department told.

According to media reports, immigration officials said that most of the offloaded individuals were going to fall victim to human smuggling. The officials said most of the detained individuals had been transferred to the Anti-Human Smuggling Circle for further investigation, while multiple people were allowed to go back home. Officials reported that the offloaded passengers were questioned for various reasons. Abid Ali, a passenger bound for Saudi Arabia, was flagged on the Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) list. Similarly, Salman Riaz, a public servant traveling to the Gulf on an employment visa, lacked the required no-objection certificate (NOC). Several passengers heading to Saudi Arabia — Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Khalil, Mohammad Riaz, and Ahmed Khan — were found to have incomplete documents. Another passenger, Faiz, holding a visit visa, lacked sufficient funds for travel expenses and hotel bookings.