FIA stops four at Islamabad airport over suspected Europe smuggling route
The FIA offloaded four passengers at Islamabad airport over suspicions they planned to use Umrah travel as a cover for illegal migration to Europe. Officials said digital evidence pointed to a route through Baku and Serbia.
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency stopped four passengers, including a woman, at New Islamabad International Airport after officials suspected they were using Umrah travel to Saudi Arabia as cover for an illegal journey to Europe.
The passengers were offloaded during immigration checks and handed over to the FIA's Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Islamabad for further investigation. FIA officials said the group had been travelling on Umrah visas when immigration staff subjected them to secondary profiling.
Officials said scrutiny of the passengers' documents raised concerns after it emerged that one of them had previously been deported from Türkiye for illegal entry. Two of the passengers were also found carrying Azerbaijan visit visas, adding to suspicions that Saudi Arabia was only a transit point.
A forensic examination of their mobile phones indicated that two passengers planned to accompany their mother to Saudi Arabia under the pretext of performing Umrah, send her back to Pakistan, and then continue onward illegally toward Europe. FIA officials said chat records showed plans to travel through the Baku-Serbia route and regular contact with agents.
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