LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has busted an international racket operating in Lahore and abroad for preparing fake papers for political asylum, human smuggling and money laundering.

The racket had installed a printing press in the provincial capital to prepare travel documents, including passports, visas and other essential papers for the international travel to India through Dubai and other countries.

This network was also in contact with the international mafias sending Pakistanis abroad through ‘donkey journey’.

The FIA has arrested six key players of the network and recovered from them several passports, visas and fake Indian government stamps which were used by them for human trafficking.

Suspects used to prepare fake papers for political asylum, money laundering

A senior official said that the network busted by the FIA was primarily providing services to the Afghan citizens for political asylum in Pakistan.

He said they had a set-up in Dubai from where they would contact other groups operating globally for ‘donkey services’ and money laundering.

The officer said the network had sent many people to India via Dubai. He said the FIA had activated teams on intelligence reports shared by top Pakistani agencies.

“We have expanded the scope of investigation following reports that the network was having set-ups in the neighboring country as well,” the officer said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior termed it a major breakthrough in fight against human smuggling and commended FIA’s Lahore circle.

He said the network was involved in looting people in the name of employment abroad. “They were expert in making fake documents, including passports, visas and other essential papers required for international travel.“He said during investigation, network’s connection with international `donkey groups’ had also been established and “it has been found that Indian and Afghan nationals were involved in criminal activities,” the spokesperson said.

During the investigation, an Indian conspiracy to defame Pakistan was also exposed, he said, adding that the crackdown on this network would be intensified. The arrest of members of this network was a major victory for law enforcement agencies in the fight against human trafficking, the spokesperson said.

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi appreciated the intelligence agencies and FIA Lahore for this successful operation.

He said that this operation was an important milestone in Pakistan’s crackdown against human smuggling. He emphasized that such operations would go on to curb human trafficking.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2024