FIA arrests 34 human traffickers involved in Greece boat tragedy

ISLAMABAD – (Reuters) – There were at least 209 Pakistani “victims” on an overloaded boat that capsized and sank in open seas off Greece, data shared with Reuters by a Pakistani investigative agency on Thursday showed.

The data shared by the Federal Investigation Agency said 181 were from Pakistan and 28 from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, adding that DNA samples from 201 families had been gathered by officials to help Greece identify those missing.

It was not immediately clear on what basis the agency had identified them as victims, with the official toll from the accident still at 82 and survivors at 104, of which 12 are Pakistanis. Hundreds are believed to have been on board the vessel.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday said 54 cases related to the Greece boat tragedy had been registered and up to 34 human smugglers had been arrested.

The DNA of the missing persons’ families had been collected for identifying purposes, according to FIA sources.

The FIA made it clear that the crackdown against human traffickers would continue on an intelligence-based basis until all human smugglers had been apprehended.

According to the FIA, a successful plan was being developed to prevent similar accidents in the future.

The accused took Rs2.5 million from the victims passengers to provide them passage till Libya in order to their final destination to Europe. The authorities have arrested eight alleged human smugglers from Gujranwala region while two smugglers belonging from Lahore are in jail.

The AJK Police lodged 26 FIRs against human traffickers and 11 of them have been arrested including prime accused Raheem who used to take Rs2.6 million from the people.

The FIA has given two days to AJKP Police to complete the investigation.

So far over 100 DNA samples have been collected from the families of the victims who went missing in Greece boat tragedy. A number of teams set up to arrest human traffickers from Gujarat, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

AJK DIG Mirpur said Khalid Mehmood Chauhan said that another two human traffickers—Raja Rauf and Raja Shakeel—were arrested. The tally of arrested suspected human traffickers from AJK reached 14.

The FIA official said that three inquires were underway to probe the matter.