ISLAMABAD: The Fed­e­ral Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday seized nearly 2 billion Iranian rials in a raid on an illegal currency exchange network in Karachi’s Industrial Area, arresting two men who confessed to running unauthorised forex operations, officials said.

The haul — equivalent to around half a million Pakistani rupees at open market rates — was recovered from suspects Ahmad Khan and Misba­hul Haq during an operation conducted by the FIA’s State Bank Circle, according to a statement issued on Saturday.

“The suspects were caught red-handed dealing in Iranian rials and failed to provide any legal justification,” an FIA spokesperson said. Both men confessed to running an illegal currency business during initial questioning. The FIA added that the arrests had “broken the backbone” of the network, and more arrests were expected as investigators widen the probe into what they described as a “currency mafia”.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, FIA defended its decision to offload 23 passengers bound for Bahrain on May 1, calling media reports about the incident “misleading”. The passengers, all holding Pakistani passports and work visas, were stopped during routine immigration checks after giving “false and misleading” statements, the FIA said.

They all lacked foreign service agreements, officials said. “On these grounds, all 23 passengers were offloaded,” the spokesperson said.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2026