FIA to examine Karachi connection in Greece shipwreck

Sources within the FIA informed that the focus of the new investigation would be on the departure of 155 Pakistanis from Karachi Airport.

The FIA Director General has directed the Director of Cybercrime South to spearhead the inquiry.

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The newly appointed Investigating Officer (IO) has already initiated the process by requesting old reports and records from 12 officers. During the course of the investigation, officials from various airports were questioned about their role in clearing the names of the immigrants.

In the previous inquiry report, officers were held accountable for not preventing the departure of immigrants from Karachi to Libya on 2nd June 2023 when 286 individuals left from different Pakistani airports.

Survivors of the shipwreck initially reported that at least 350 Pakistanis, 200 Egyptians, and 150 Syrians, including approximately two dozen Syrian women and young children, were aboard the ill-fated trawler.

In a significant development last December, the FIA claimed a breakthrough in its crackdown on human smugglers by apprehending the main suspect linked to the Greece shipwreck incident.

The individual, identified as Atiq Butt, was revealed to be a key operative of a trafficking gang operating in Pakistan.

The investigation disclosed that a total of Rs 6.7 million from human trafficking activities had been transferred to Atiq’s bank account.