Islamabad:The Federal Investigation Agency’s NCB Interpol Pakistan, yesteryear, has rounded up 120 people involved in different categories of crime and absconded to various countries of the world, by using International forum of Interpol, while, 36 suspects were arrested upon their arrival or departure at the Islamabad International Airport during the year 2023, the FIA’s Interpol Wing said, Thursday.
Director NCB, Sikandar Hayat, when contacted by this correspondent, said that the NCB Interpol Pakistan has achieved significant accomplishments, during the year 2023, in apprehending various wanted criminals involved in serious criminal activities. The NCB Interpol Pakistan repatriate the people required to various districts of the police, FIA, NAB and other law enforcement and investigative agencies, The Director maintained.
The NCB Interpol Pakistan takes up such cases after getting complaints through the Interior Ministry against the criminals wanted to the Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad Police, he added. The NCB Among the arrested accused, 45 were apprehended in the UAE, 12 in Saudi Arabia, and 13 in Oman. The NCB Interpol Pakistan coordinated with international partners of the countries who signed the extradition treaty, resulting in the arrest and extradition of 14 accused from countries such as Canada, Kuwait, Cambodia, Italy, Spain, Australia, Ireland, France, Turkey, Japan and Swaziland, Sikandar Hayat said.
The arrested individuals were promptly handed over to the relevant authorities at the airports, he maintained. During the year 2023, NCB Interpol Pakistan issued a total of 303 notices, including 289 red notices for the arrest of wanted accused. The majority of these red notices (275) were issued at the request of the Punjab Police, while 5 were issued at the request of the FIA and 4 at the request of the KP Police, the Director maintained. Additionally, 5 accused were issued notices based on requests from Sindh Police, Islamabad, and NAB. As part of its commitment to combating criminal elements, in year 2023, NCB Interpol Pakistan signed several Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with various organizations to enhance information sharing on criminals. NCB Interpol Pakistan, in collaboration with other Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), remains dedicated to achieve its targets and ensuring the safety and security of the nation, the Director concluded.
Meanwhile, the FIA Immigration, in the an annual performance report, said that 19.5 million incoming and outgaining passengers were processed during the year 2023. Among 9.2 million passengers, processed in 2023, 7.1 million were hailing from Pakistan and 2.1 passengers were aliens landed at Islamabad International Airport from different countries, while, 8.1 million passengers among 10.3 million, were Pakistani nationals and 2.2 million were belonging to other countries, the report said.
The highest number of 3.6 million of the incoming and outgoing passengers used Lahore International Airport, while, 3.5 million passengers used Islamabad International Airport for landing and departing from Pakistan, the report said, adding that 1.1 million foreigners travelled in and out of Pakistan through Islamabad International Airport.
The report indicated that the Integrated Border System detected 2935 stop list cases and took legal action according to the law, adding that during the crackdown against human smuggling, 1602 racketeers were hunted down during the yesteryear, while, 25 most wanted gangsters were arrested from different countries of the world.
“The American Department for Foreign Affairs kept Pakistan in Tier-2 for the impressive performance for effective crackdown against human trafficking in person,” the report maintained.
The FIA Immigration offloaded 1129 passengers involved in using fake travelling documents for departing abroad, the report indicated, adding that the FIA Immigration has initiated strict scrutiny of the passengers at different airports, who were leaving Pakistan on the name of performing Umera, to counter incident as Greece shipwrecking.
