The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has foiled an attempt by four passengers to travel illegally to Europe by using the pretext of performing Umrah with their mother.
According to an FIA spokesperson, the passengers were offloaded during secondary profiling by FIA Immigration officials at Islamabad International Airport before boarding their flight to Saudi Arabia.
During scrutiny of their travel documents, officials found that one of the passengers had previously been deported from Turkey.
The FIA also recovered Azerbaijan visit visas from two of the passengers. A forensic examination of their mobile phones revealed that the two men were accompanying their mother under the guise of performing Umrah.
Investigators said the suspects planned to send their mother back to Pakistan after arriving in Saudi Arabia, while they intended to continue their journey illegally towards Europe.
The spokesperson said mobile phone chats indicated that the passengers were planning to travel to Europe through the Baku and Serbia route.
The suspects were taken into custody and shifted for further legal proceedings and investigation.
