Libya boat capsize: FIA nabs ‘main human trafficker’ from Gujrat

GUJRAT: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has apprehended the central character of a human smuggling network that facilitated illegal transportation of Pakistani nationals, who drowned in a boat capsize off the Libyan coast on January 31, a deputy director with the agency told Geo News on Sunday.

The prime suspect, Mehboob Shah, was apprehended along with an accomplice, Mudassir, during a raid in Gujrat, said Mufakhir Adeel, deputy director of the FIA. "Mehboob Shah, custodian (guddee nasheen) of Darbar Baba Faqeer Shah, had sent deceased of shipwreck incident to Libya," the official said. He explained that Mehboob's brother lives in Libya, while his son in Italy, adding, "The suspect ran the human smuggling network together with his brother and son." "Mehboob Shah would send people to Libya via Dubai from where they would be transported to Italy through the sea route," Adeel said.

Prior to that on Sunday, the FIA claimed to have arrested four human smugglers linked to the incident in Libya. Officials said the suspects were rounded up in raids conducted in Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin and Gujranwala.

It is learnt that a five members of a family — Ismail, his wife Azmat, 5-year-old son Saad, 2-year-old daughter Fatima and his brother Rehmat — were also aboard the boat. The family has confirmed that only Rehmat survived the accident.