ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested six suspects, including a highly sought-after human trafficker, in connection with the tragic boat incident off the coast of Libya that claimed the lives of several Pakistanis.
According to an FIA spokesperson, the arrests were made during coordinated operations in Gujranwala and Gujrat. Among those apprehended is Khurram Shehzad, a key operative connected to international human trafficking rings based in Libya. The FIA revealed that Shehzad had charged a family Rs1 million to send a minor child to Europe via boat.
Authorities also seized several passports from Shehzad’s possession during a raid in Gujrat, further implicating him in illegal trafficking activities. Earlier, the FIA’s Gujranwala zone arrested another notorious trafficker, Yasir Mehmood, who had been on the Red Book’s most-wanted list. Mehmood, who faced over five human trafficking-related cases in 2023, allegedly extorted millions of rupees from victims by promising them illegal transport to Europe.
Mehmood is accused of smuggling people to Libya via Egypt and Dubai, where they were held in deplorable conditions in safe houses before being sent on perilous journeys across the Mediterranean. FIA officials used modern technology and conducted multiple raids to capture Mehmood in Gujrat.
An investigation is now underway, and the agency is continuing efforts to arrest additional accomplices linked to the operation. The arrests come in the wake of two devastating boat tragedies earlier this year, in which several Pakistani nationals lost their lives while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya. The first tragedy occurred in February, followed by another in April.
Following the incidents, then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed authorities to thoroughly investigate the human trafficking networks responsible for the tragic shipwrecks. He also called for immediate action to arrest those involved in the illegal trade and bring them to justice.
