Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday detained three women at Karachi airport who were attempting to travel to Saudi Arabia under the guise of Umrah pilgrims. According to an FIA spokesperson, the women were intercepted during immigration checks and were found without return tickets or hotel bookings, raising suspicion about their intentions. Further investigations revealed that these women had previously been offloaded at Lahore airport for similar reasons.
The suspects were handed over to the FIA Anti-Smuggling Circle for further investigation. This incident follows a similar operation at Multan airport, where FIA officials recently offloaded 24 alleged beggars who admitted during questioning that they intended to seek alms in Saudi Arabia. The crackdown comes in the wake of revelations by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, which informed a Senate committee that a significant number of beggars are trafficked abroad through illegal means, tarnishing Pakistan’s image internationally.
