KARACHI, Sept 5: The FIA Passport Circle arrested on Monday 13 intending illegal immigrants, who were to be smuggled to Greece. They had paid Rs300,000 to Rs 400,000 to human smugglers for sending them to Greece, and were arrested from a hotel at Cantonment Railway Station.

Officials said an FIA team was formed after Passport Circle’s deputy director Mohammed Malick received a report that some job-seekers were being smuggled to Greece.

The job-seekers told the FIA that they had paid cash to Chaudhry Noor Ahmed and Master Afzal for sending them abroad via Mand Ballu (Balochistan), Iran and Turkey.

They said an agent, Mohammad Akram, was also among the illegal jobseekers. The agents were booked under Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance, 2002, while the job-seekers were booked under Section 17 (1) of E.O Ordinance, 1979.

According to the officials, the jobseekers, hailing from Gujrat disclosed that agent Noor Ahmed was a resident of village Badoo, tehsil Kharian, Gujrat, and Afzal belonged to Topa Usman, Dinga, Gujrat.

The officials said over 50 jobseekers had been arrested by the Passport Circle last week.