GUJRAT: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday offloaded four passengers from flights to Indonesia and Turkiye after discovering irregularities in their travel documents and links to human trafficking networks. The passengers, hailing from Sialkot and Gujranwala, were reportedly in contact with traffickers planning to send them to Italy via illegal routes.
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Two of the passengers, Muhammad Asad and Nadeem, were traveling to Indonesia on flight FZ 338. During immigration clearance, officials discovered that the men had arranged with a Karachi-based agent to pay Rs2 million each to be smuggled to Libya and subsequently to Italy. The FIA offloaded both passengers after the investigation.
Another passenger, Sufyan Arshad, was traveling on a Turkiye work visa on flight FZ 338. Scrutiny revealed that his visa was fake, obtained from an agent for Rs1.6 million. Meanwhile, Qaiser Farooq, scheduled to fly to Turkiye on a visit visa on flight FZ 316, was also offloaded when authorities found no record of his return from a previous trip to Iran in 2023.
The FIA Gujranwala Zone has also organized an awareness session on human trafficking and migrant smuggling at the University of Gujrat for law students. Muhammad Riaz Khan, deputy director of immigration at Sialkot Airport, attended as the guest speaker, highlighting the risks and legal consequences of illegal migration.
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Authorities emphasized the importance of verifying travel documents and warned the public against falling prey to agents promising illegal routes abroad. The FIA assured that all efforts would be made to prevent human trafficking and protect vulnerable individuals seeking employment overseas.