ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested 34 Afghan nationals attempting to travel abroad with fake passports.
Reports indicate that the suspects entered Pakistan illegally via the Chaman border and were apprehended in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Rizwan Shah, the additional director of the FIA, stated that a raid on a hostel in Peshawar led to the initial arrest of two foreign nationals, which uncovered 32 more Afghan nationals living there.
Investigations revealed that the suspects had obtained fraudulent Pakistani identity cards and passports through agents.
Earlier, the FIA had arrested three individuals allegedly involved in facilitating the issuance of fake Pakistani passports to Afghan citizens. These agents were apprehended in Attock based on information provided by a previously detained suspect named Dost Mohammad.
The FIA reported that these individuals were operating as ‘agents,’ producing counterfeit documents for passport issuance in collusion with officials from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). The arrested suspects are scheduled to appear in court on Saturday.
In a separate operation, the FIA detained 15 suspects, including seven officials from NADRA and the Passport Immigration Department, in connection with the issuance of fake Pakistani passports to Afghan nationals. This group includes three Assistant Directors from Passport Immigration and four NADRA officials.
Local media reports indicate that four agents and five Afghan nationals were also apprehended during this operation. The FIA’s actions were prompted by complaints received from NADRA and the Passport Office regarding the distribution of forged passports.
So far, a total of 16 suspects have been arrested in this ongoing investigation, underscoring the gang’s involvement in the international trafficking of counterfeit Pakistani passports.