Two human traffickers were arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) during a raid on a pseudo-visa factory based in Gujranwala, as conveyed by a reporting channel.
In Shadman Colony, Ziaur Rehman and Ijaz Ahmed were arrested by the FIA Composite Circle Gujranwala for providing fake visas to Pakistani citizens through agents across the country. The suspects are involved in manufacturing and distributing counterfeit passports, visa stickers, and other travel documents claiming amounts from the citizens extortively.
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Authorities seized 20 Pakistani passports, 31 foreign passports, and a bulk of fake visa stickers during the operation. Along with it, machines utilized in the manufacture of counterfeit documents at the site were also confiscated. This included stickers with 96 in Europe, 18 in China, 41 from the UK, and 12 from the US, in addition to stickers for Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, Serbia, Greece, Sweden, Malta, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, and the UAE.
Seized in addition were 95 counterfeit stamps, bank deposit slips, 13 fake residence cards, and other travel-related documents, including immigration stamps and lamination sheets. Counterfeit Chamber of Commerce cards and student cards, along with mobile phones, lamination machines, and typing equipment, were also retrieved.
The arrested persons and his agents’ whole channel were cheating citizens of the country with fake visa stickers and sending them abroad on fraudulent visits or Umrah visas, allowing them to travel to Europe illegally through Dubai, Azerbaijan, and other countries.
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The ongoing investigation is in connection with other members of the network. According to Director FIA Gujranwala Zone Abdul Qadir Qamar, action has been taken against human trafficking networks, and operations by intelligence-based teams against organized gangs are currently underway. Official resources to redress this situation have also been mobilized.