GUJRAT / LAHORE / TOBA TEK SINGH: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claims to have arrested 12 suspects, including 11 human traffickers, in separate raids in Sialkot, Gujranwala, Multan and Faisalabad.

A Gujranwala FIA spokesperson said the arrested human traffickers included Javed Iqbal, Muhammad Arif, Nadeem, Muhammad Ilyas Muhammad Aslam, Saleem, Yasir Nawaz, Abdul Wakeel and Asghar Ali.

These suspects, he claimed, were wanted in cases of human trafficking and they reportedly received Rs19.6 million from citizens to send them to the United States of America, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Canada, Italy, Qatar and Azerbaijan for employment.

He claimed that after receiving payments from citizens, the suspects failed to fulfill their commitment and committed financial fraud. He said the FIA had registered cases against them after receiving complaints from affected citizens.

Separately, he said, the FIA had arrested a Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) official Shaukat Ali for allegedly providing an electricity connection to a private housing society in Sialkot illegally.

The spokesperson said seven suspects, including three POs, were arrested by the Gujranwala FIA circle, whereas three suspects were arrested by the FIA Sialkot circle.

Meanwhile, a Faisalabad FIA official claimed that a team led by SHO Ajmal Hussain conducted a raid and arrested Muhammad Mubeen of Nankana Sahib red-handed from near the Gutwala Chowk when he was receiving passports and advance payments from citizens on the pretext of sending them abroad.

During the raid, four passports, Rs50,000 in cash, a mobile phone, which had records of visas, bank receipts and travel documents of various people, and a car which was being used by the accused were taken into custody.

FIA claimed that during initial investigations, the accused revealed that he was trying to get Canadian work permits for citizens. They claimed that he used to extort huge sums of money by cheating them and confessed to receiving Rs3 million from one plaintiff named Zakarur Rehman.

The accused also confessed that he was part of an organised human trafficking network and used to send the received money to his associate Hamdan alias Ali, who was currently residing in Malaysia, FIA further claimed.

In the other incident, an FIA spokesperson said that an FIA team led by SI Shabana Shamsheer conducted a raid in Multan and arrested Rashid Minhas and a case was registered against him.

The spokespersons said, “Section 22 governs the illegal receipt of money or compensation for securing foreign employment. It criminalises taking or demanding payments (other than lawful processing or service charges) in exchange for providing, or promising to provide, jobs in foreign countries.”

The suspect had allegedly taken Rs200,000 from a complainant to provide an employment visa in Saudi Arabia to his son. However, the suspect failed to honour the commitment and did not provide an employment visa or return the money, the FIA said.

He was taken into custody and further investigation was underway.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2026