46 ‘human traffickers’ held in two weeks

Published June 16, 2026 Updated June 16, 2026 06:44am

GUJRAT: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claimed to have arrested at least 46 suspects over the past two weeks in Gujranwala region, for their alleged involvement in human trafficking, while two passengers were offloaded at the Sialkot International Airport for attempting to travel on fake documents.

A spokesman for the FIA’s Gujranwala Zone says that the arrested suspects also included seven proclaimed offenders (POs).

He says that the 46 arrested suspects were accused of depriving people of a total Rs100 million, which they allegedly received on the pretext of sending them to various European countries, America, Iraq and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Most of the suspects, he says, have been arrested on the basis of the information shared by the deportees from Libya, whereas three of them are allegedly involved in illegal money transaction networks.

About the two offloaded passengers, he says, they had paid a sum of Rs5.6m to some agents for arranging fake visas and other documents for their travel abroad.

The spokesman says that some 18 suspects were arrested by the FIA’s Gujranwala circle and 14 each by Gujrat and Sialkot circles.

The agency vowed to continue its operation against human trafficking networks across Gujranwala region.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2026

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