WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Thursday announced two rewards of $1 million each for information leading to the arrest of a Pakistani citizen, Abid Ali Khan.

An official statement released in Washington described the suspect as “a human smuggler”.

The first reward of up to $1m is offered for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Ali Khan, while a second $1m reward is offered for information leading to the financial disruption of Ali Khan’s human smuggling network, the statement added.

Ali Khan allegedly operates a Pakistan-based smuggling network that facilitates the travel of undocumented individuals into the United States from the Middle East and southwest Asia in exchange for payment.

In addition to planning and coordinating the international travel from Pakistan through multiple countries, Ali Khan allegedly offered or provided false documents to foreign nationals to use for travel, the statement added.

The State Department also released information about how human smugglers operate their networks. The information claims that smuggling organisations like Ali Khan’s “take advantage of vulnerable populations, pose high risk, and gravely endanger the individuals being smuggled”.

Persons smuggled to the United States are often subjected to perilous travel through South and Central America, which can involve many days of walking through difficult terrain with little food or water, with many falling victim to robbery and abuse during the journey.

On April 7, 2021 the US Department of Justice unsealed a federal indictment filed in the Eastern District of Virginia charging Ali Khan with conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien to unlawfully enter the United States, encouraging and inducing an alien to unlawfully enter the United States, and bringing an alien to the United States.

On the same date, the Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against Ali Khan and his transnational criminal organisation. The two rewards are offered under the Department of State’s Transnational Organised Crime Rewards Programme.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2021