The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) have arrested around 400 foreign nationals, including 258 Chinese citizens, during a joint crackdown in Islamabad, according to media reports.
The arrested foreigners include nationals of China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. The FIA has registered a case against the suspects.
According to the FIR, a number of Vietnamese nationals were found at a plaza in Gulberg Greens and were subsequently verified through the Integrated Border Management System (IBMS).
Officials said the Vietnamese nationals had entered Pakistan on visit, tourist and business visas but were allegedly involved in business activities in violation of their visa conditions. They were also allegedly operating an illegal call centre.
Separately, the FIA arrested 17 suspects allegedly involved in human trafficking during operations in Gujranwala, Gujrat and Sialkot.
According to an FIA spokesperson, the suspects allegedly deceived citizens by promising to facilitate their travel abroad and collected millions of rupees from them. Ten suspects were arrested in the Gujranwala Circle, five in Gujrat and two in Sialkot.
Meanwhile, the NCCIA has intensified its crackdown on cyber fraud networks, arresting 28 suspects in Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan.
The action was carried out on the directives of the NCCIA Punjab director against individuals allegedly involved in online fraud.
In Lahore, 18 suspects linked to an alleged fraud network were arrested. Authorities said the suspects allegedly defrauded citizens of millions of rupees by posing as government officials, visa agents and relatives of victims.
In Faisalabad, three suspects allegedly involved in online trading scams and email hacking were arrested. Officials said one citizen suffered a financial loss of more than Rs5.4 million in the alleged scam.
Seven more suspects were arrested in Multan in connection with the alleged fraud network. One of those arrested is reportedly based in the United Kingdom, while some suspects allegedly posed as bank officials to deceive citizens.
The NCCIA said 24 mobile phones and laptops were recovered from the suspects. Forensic examination of the devices is underway, while investigators are also scrutinising the suspects’ financial transactions.
