By Mustafa Ali
ISLAMABAD:The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested multiple suspects involved in human trafficking, visa fraud, and large-scale corruption. The operations resulted in the apprehension of a key suspect in the 2025 Morocco boat tragedy, 11 individuals involved in human smuggling, and two LESCO officials accused of embezzling millions of rupees.The FIA Composite Circle Faisalabad arrested Ghulam Mustafa, a notorious land route agent declared a fugitive in the Morocco boat incident case. He was linked to the infamous African human smuggler Abubakar and was part of a network along with previously arrested suspects Abdul Ghaffar and Muhammad Sarfraz. These traffickers sent dozens of Pakistanis via sea from Mauritania to Europe, but the boat tragically capsized, resulting in multiple fatalities.In a separate operation, the FIA Gujranwala Zone arrested 11 individuals — including a woman — for visa fraud and human trafficking. The arrested include Arsalan, Muhammad Shehbaz Ghumman, Asif Nazir Bajwa, Qasim Nadeem, Muhammad Suleman, Sikandar Adil, Shoaib Iqbal, Arsalan Abdullah, Muhammad Adnan, Asad alias Mitha, and Faiza Waqas. They are accused of defrauding citizens of millions of rupees under the pretext of overseas employment. Some victims went missing or faced life-threatening incidents due to fake visas or illegal travel routes.Meanwhile, the FIA Anti-Corruption Circle Lahore arrested two LESCO employees, Muhammad Shehbaz and Muhammad Muneeb Tahir, for embezzling government property. The suspects allegedly misappropriated 90,000 kilograms of used conductors from the 132 KVA grid station, causing a loss of over 10 million rupees to the national exchequer.According to an FIA spokesperson, the agency is strictly enforcing its zero-tolerance policy against human trafficking, visa fraud, and corruption, and all arrested individuals will face legal consequences.
