GUJRAT: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested three human traffickers in separate cases in Sialkot, Gujrat and Gujranwala for money laundering, fake visas and fraud on Wednesday.
A senior FIA official told Dawn that accused Usman Ali alias Usman Jaja from Sialkot was nominated in an anti-money laundering case and arrested during a crackdown in Gujranwala zone.
The official said the accused was also the prime suspect in the 2024 Libyan shipwreck incident in which several people lost their lives.
He said he had allegedly extorted Rs50 million from the victim families for sending them to Italy via the sea route from Libya.
He was arrested by the FIA Gujranwala circle for human trafficking a few months ago and remained in judicial custody.
The official said that during investigation, it was learnt that the accused acquired property measuring one kanal and seven marla at Mohrike Jaja Pasrur, two vehicles and a bike through illegal means.
FIA Gujranwala circle had booked and arrested him in this new case.
Meanwhile, the FIA claimed to have arrested two human traffickers during a crackdown in Gujrat and Gujranwala circles.
An FIA spokesperson said Zulfiqar Ali and Saeed Ahmed were arrested for involvement in cases pertaining to fake visas and extorting huge sums of money from complainants.
He said Zulfiqar had allegedly extorted Rs1.75 million from a citizen to send him to Spain and the victim died en route.
Similarly, accused Saeed had received Rs4.8 million from a citizen to send him to Australia but did not send him.
