GUJRAT: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) unearthed a 10-member gang involved in illegal money transfer and human trafficking operating in five countries.

The gang was also involved in the 2023 Greece boat capsize tragedy.

Its ringleader, Asim Ali, was arrested on arrival in Lahore from Turkiye on Sept 25 since his name was on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL). Asim’s arrest was the starting point to trace the entire network.

A senior FIA official told Dawn that four members of the gang had been hiding in Pakistan and the remaining were stationed in Greece, Turkiye, Germany and Italy as one of the fleeing suspects from Wazirabad, namely Nadir Chohan, was once on FIA’s list of most wanted traffickers.

The FIA Gujrat circle have also registered a case against 10 members of the network, namely Asim Ali, Master Sajid, Asghar Shah, Nadir Chaudhary (Nadir Chohan), Atif Asif, Muhammad Qasim, Ali Hassan, Waseem Tahukar, Ali Shah and Basit.

They belong to districts of Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin and Wazirabad, considered a hub of human trafficking networks.

Asim Ali’s Istanbul shop (Al-Wasi Mobile Shop) functioned as the network’s financial centre for collecting hundi/hawala payments and guaranteeing smuggling operations as migrants were pushed onward via illegal sea and land routes.

A report received from the FIA’s legal attaché in Athens, Greece, identified Master Sajid and Asim Ali as key facilitators of the network. The report led to the FIA putting the names of two suspects on the PNIL. Muhammad Bin Ashraf, director FIA, termed the tracing of a financier network of the human trafficking as a big achievement of the FIA in its drive to curb human trafficking and illegal money transfers.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2026