The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Immigration carried out a major operation at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, and stopped eight passengers who were attempting to travel abroad for work under the guise of visit visas, officials said on Wednesday.
According to FIA officials, the passengers were travelling to Malaysia on Pakistani passports using visit visas obtained through fake documents.
The group was intercepted during immigration clearance for flight D7-109, which was scheduled to depart for Malaysia.
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The passengers have been identified as Pooja Amit, Raj Kitchen, Atiq Khan, Muhammad Saad, Uzair Aziz, Karamatullah, Aamir Khan and Zeeshan Khan.
FIA officials said the group was being led by Pooja Amit, who appeared to be coordinating the travel arrangements.
Initial investigations revealed that the passengers had submitted forged travel documents in the name of a private entity, Blessing Institute, located in Clifton, Karachi, to secure Malaysian visit visas. These documents were later found to be fake during verification by FIA Immigration officials.
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FIA officials stated that the passengers paid around Rs 495,000 each to different agents for arranging the visas and travel.
The agents allegedly promised them employment opportunities in Malaysia once they reached the destination, despite the passengers holding only visit visas.
During questioning, it emerged that the passengers intended to work illegally in Malaysia, which is a violation of immigration laws.
Officials also recovered evidence from the passengers’ mobile phones suggesting plans to obtain fake United States visas in the future.
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FIA officials said such cases highlight the growing trend of human smuggling, where individuals are misled by agents with false promises of overseas jobs.
Many victims end up facing detention, deportation, or legal trouble abroad due to improper documentation.
Following the operation, all eight passengers were taken into custody and handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Karachi for further investigation and legal action.
Authorities are now working to identify and arrest the agents involved in preparing fake documents and collecting large sums of money from the victims.
