The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Immigration, Islamabad International Airport, offloaded two passengers travelling on Azerbaijan visit visas after uncovering evidence suggesting they were part of an organized attempt at illegal immigration to Italy.
FIA offloads two passengers over suspected Italy-bound human smuggling bid
ISLAMABAD, Jul 03 (APP): The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Immigration, Islamabad International Airport, offloaded two passengers travelling on Azerbaijan visit visas after uncovering evidence suggesting they were part of an organized attempt at illegal immigration to Italy.
An official told APP on Friday that the passengers were referred for secondary profiling by the immigration counter officer during routine immigration clearance.
The official said both passengers were travelling together and, during questioning, it emerged that one of them had contacted a human smuggling agent to facilitate illegal entry into Italy in exchange for Rs3.5 million.
According to the official, further inquiry and available evidence indicated that the travel arrangements of both passengers were part of an organized illegal immigration plan.
The official said the two passengers were offloaded and taken into custody on suspicion of human smuggling before being handed over to the FIA Anti Human Trafficking Circle (AHTC), Islamabad, for further investigation and legal action.
The FIA is also investigating the role of facilitators and other individuals involved in arranging the attempted illegal migration, the official added.
