October 12, 2006	Thursday	Ramazan 18, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: Pakistan has busted an international human trafficking network involved in selling 900 stolen UK visa stickers from Russia in Pakistan and elsewhere facilitating illegal immigration.

“We have arrested at least six accused from different cities who were selling the stolen stickers,” Federal Investigation Agency’s deputy director Tariq Khosa.

He said that the agency had also arrested some other people traveling on stolen visas who had provided information leading to the unearthing of the network.

He said that the visa stickers were stolen from a batch that had been sent to its embassy in Russia.

He said that the FIA had posted numbers of the stolen visa stickers on its computerised immigration system installed at all exit points, including airports.

The FIA, he said, had also informed the British High Commission in Islamabad about the developments in the case.

One of 19 cartons containing 900 UK visa stickers had reportedly disappeared somewhere between Britain and Russia in May 2006, he said.

British authorities had learnt about visa stickers being sold in Pakistan when they arrested some Pakistanis at the Heathrow Airport who were trying to enter the UK on them. They had contacted Pakistan through Interpol and informed the FIA about the situation. British authorities feared that terrorists could also use these stickers to enter the United Kingdom.

British authorities have also posted numbers of the stolen visa stickers at all the entry points. The official said that the incidence of passport and visa stealing was on the rise and there was a concerted international effort to control human trafficking.

He said that FIA had set up an Anti-Trafficking Unit to prevent human trafficking and maintain liaison with foreign agencies. The FIA claims that human smuggling had drastically declined during the year after the agency had smashed 26 international networks of human smuggling and arrested 1,006 people who were traveling on fake documents.