The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested six passengers from Sialkot Airport who were attempting to travel to Europe through Qatar under the guise of work visas. According to the FIA Gujranwala circle, the arrested individuals belong to Sialkot and Gujranwala and were holding Qatar work permit visas.
Officials said the group intended to first travel to Qatar, then proceed to Libya, and from there attempt to reach Italy via illegal sea routes. FIA authorities revealed that this indicates the emergence of a new route being used by human smugglers to send people to Europe. The detained passengers had reportedly paid Rs 3.2 million each to an agent.
Meanwhile, in a separate operation, FIA Multan rounded up seven suspects involved in human smuggling and visa fraud from various cities across South Punjab. The accused allegedly lured citizens with promises of overseas employment and collected large sums of money, but neither provided jobs nor returned the funds.
FIA officials confirmed that all arrested individuals have been taken into custody and investigations have been initiated to trace the wider network involved in illegal migration and exploitation of citizens.
