LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) continues to offload passengers on incomplete documents and thwart their bid to slip the country for ‘greener pasture’.

On Wednesday, the FIA said, it foiled an alleged human smuggling attempt at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport by offloading three passengers - a man and his two sons - who were allegedly being trafficked to Italy through an irregular travel route.

According to an FIA spokesperson, the passengers were scheduled to travel to Baku on flight PA-468 when immigration officials found their travel pattern suspicious during routine clearance and referred them to the verification counter for further scrutiny.

During verification, the officials recovered Albanian visas and digital evidence related to Serbia from the passengers. Their mobile phones also allegedly contained records of communication with suspected human smuggling agents.

The passengers told the investigators that an agent had arranged their illegal journey to Italy through Azerbaijan and Serbia.

They said the agent had charged Rs4 million per person and Rs3.4m per passenger had already been paid in advance.

The FIA said the three passengers were handed over to the agency’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle (AHTC) in Lahore for further investigation and legal proceedings. The FIA is also investigating the suspected agents involved in the alleged smuggling network, the spokesperson added.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2026