ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has offloaded four passengers at Islamabad International Airport after suspecting they intended to use Umrah visas as part of an alleged illegal migration plan to Europe.
According to the FIA, the passengers were stopped during secondary profiling, where a detailed examination of their travel documents and subsequent inquiries raised concerns about their intended travel route. The case has been referred for further investigation under Pakistan’s anti-human trafficking procedures.
Documents and Travel History Raise Concerns
The FIA said one passenger had previously been deported from Türkiye after attempting to enter the country illegally. Officials also recovered Azerbaijan visit visas from two of the passengers during the inspection.
Further investigation, including forensic analysis of the passengers’ mobile phones, allegedly revealed plans to travel onward to Europe after arriving in Saudi Arabia.
Alleged Europe Route Under Investigation
According to the FIA, two of the passengers had planned to accompany their mother to Saudi Arabia for Umrah before sending her back to Pakistan while they continued their journey to Europe.
Officials said chat records indicated the group intended to travel through the Baku-Serbia route and were allegedly in contact with individuals linked to a suspected human smuggling network.
The four passengers were offloaded and handed over to the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Islamabad for legal proceedings. The investigation remains ongoing.
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