FIA seizes nearly 2bn Iranian rials in Karachi raid

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said on Saturday it had recovered nearly 2 billion Iranian rials during a raid against an illegal currency exchange network in Karachi’s Industrial Area and arrested two suspects.

According to an FIA statement, the operation was carried out by the agency’s State Bank Circle. The seized amount was valued at around half a million Pakistani rupees at open market rates.

The agency identified the arrested men as Ahmad Khan and Misbahul Haq. It said the currency was recovered from their possession during the raid. An FIA spokesperson said the two men could not provide any lawful explanation for the transaction.

The spokesperson added that both suspects admitted during initial questioning that they had been operating an unauthorised foreign exchange business.

The FIA said the action had significantly disrupted the network involved in the activity and indicated that further arrests were expected as the investigation expands into what it described as a currency mafia.

FIA responds to Bahrain offloading reports

In a separate statement, the FIA also addressed reports regarding 23 passengers who were offloaded from a Bahrain-bound flight on May 1, saying the coverage of the incident was misleading.

The agency said all 23 passengers were Pakistani passport holders and had work visas. However, during routine immigration checks, they gave what the FIA described as false and misleading statements. Officials also said the passengers did not have foreign service agreements.

The FIA said the decision was taken during standard immigration scrutiny before departure.

The statements issued on Saturday covered both the Karachi currency raid and the agency’s explanation of the Bahrain flight offloading, outlining the basis on which the enforcement and immigration actions were taken.

The Karachi operation was specifically linked by the FIA to unauthorised foreign exchange dealings involving Iranian currency, while the separate immigration matter concerned passengers stopped after checks conducted on May 1.

No additional details about the wider network in Karachi or the identities of the offloaded passengers were provided in the statements cited by the agency.