Major human trafficking gang busted

GUJRANWALA/LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday arrested seven people suspected to be involved in smuggling the people whose bullet-riddled bodies were found in Turbat last week.
The suspects include four from Balochistan. The FIA recovered 142 Pakistani passports, latest electronic machines and various other documents during the raid conducted in the city’s Sadoke area
According to FIA Deputy Director Khalid Anis, the suspects were involved in smuggling of people via Iraq, Iran and Pakistan to Europe.
The arrested human smugglers were identified as Muhammad Husnain of Chah Baqar Wala, Bhakkar; Afzaal Ahmed of Kala Shadiyan, Mandi Bahauddin; Iqrar Hussain, Rasheed Abbas and Imran Khan of Chah Bahadar Wala Bhakkar; Raja Farooq of Maneel, Kotli Azad Kashmir; Faisal Ameen of Veer Wala, Sialkot; and Qaisar Munir of Khuri Rasool Pur, Gujrat.
One of them, Husnain, was found to be in contact with a wanted suspect, Akhtar Mayo, involved in trafficking those killed in Turbat.
In a separate operation in Gujrat, the FIA arrested a facilitator of Sohail Shakeel who was nabbed a day earlier from the city.
Authorities have made a number of arrests in Quetta and parts of Punjab after the Turbat incident.
Also on Tuesday, the FIA on a tip-off managed to arrest at least seven intending emigrants en route to Europe through land route via Iran, Turkey and Greece.
The arrests were made when they were leaving for Lahore from Kharian, Gujrat, on a special vehicle. The intending emigrants were scheduled to proceed to Quetta for crossing the Pak-Iran border illegally to reach Turkey and further to Greece.
The intending emigrants told FIA investigators that they paid an amount of Rs 130,000 each to different land route agents from Gujrat, including Sajid alias Bobby of Shampur, Tayyab of Lakhanwal and Nisar of Kulian.
On November 15, fifteen bodies were found in the Buleda area of Turbat tehsil in Kech district of Balochistan. The victims hailed from different parts of Punjab, including Mandi Bahauddin, Gujranwala, Gujrat and Sialkot.
Two days later, five more bodies were found in the same tehsil at a short distance from the spot
where earlier killings took place.
According to the FIA officials, the accused use two methods for human trafficking. In the first, they send the people through visa to Iran and Iraq for pilgrimage. From there, the agents from the final destinations transported them to Turkey and Greece through border crossings.
The other method was to send the people illegally through border crossing via Quetta, Iran, Turkey and Greece.