QUETTA: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Gwadar has arrested 17 suspects for allegedly attempting to travel illegally to Iran by sea.
According to an FIA spokesperson, the arrests were made in the Jiwani area. The individuals, who are from various districts in Punjab and Balochistan, including Hafizabad, Gujranwala, and Gwadar, were apprehended yesterday.
Initial investigations suggest that the suspects had previously used Iran as a route to travel to other countries illegally.
Three cases have been registered against them. The FIA has stated that a crackdown is ongoing against human trafficking and illegal border crossings, and an investigation is underway.
Also read: FIA foils attempts to travel abroad on fake documents, four arrested
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Immigration has foiled separate attempts to travel abroad using fake documents at Islamabad and Quetta airports, arresting four individuals, including a woman.
The Rawalpindi Immigration staff offloaded three passengers identified as Salman Khan, Badshah Khan, and a woman named Armaghan Balkhi for presenting forged travel documents.
In this regard, Salman Khan, a resident of Swat, was traveling to Saudi Arabia on flight PF-718 for Umrah. The passport carried a fake Serbian visa.
Badshah Khan, from Dir, was attempting to travel to Bahrain on flight PK-187 using a visit visa.
Furthermore, the investigations revealed that Badshah Khan had previously traveled to Azerbaijan and Libya in 2023, and was deported earlier this year after being detained while attempting to enter Europe illegally.
The third suspect, Armaghan Balkhi, who hails from Afghanistan, was traveling to France on flight PK-749.
Moreover, her Swiss residence card was found to be fake. The three suspects were handed over to the Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Islamabad for further legal proceedings.
On the other hand, the separate operation at Quetta Airport, FIA Immigration officials foiled an attempt to travel to Azerbaijan using forged documents.
