Pak-Iran Border
In a significant operation aimed at curbing illegal migration, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Frontier Corps (FC) jointly apprehended 33 Bangladeshi nationals on Wednesday near the Pakistan-Iran border.
The operation was carried out in the Mashkil area of Chagai district, Balochistan—a remote and rugged region that has long served as a notorious corridor for irregular cross-border movement.
According to official sources, the arrests were made during a coordinated sweep after authorities received intelligence reports of foreign nationals attempting to illegally enter Iranian territory. The group was intercepted while navigating through an unfrequented and unauthorized route near Taftan, close to the Pakistan-Iran border.
It was later confirmed that the individuals had initially entered Pakistan legally on visit visas in June and July. However, they were found to be making an unlawful attempt to exit the country and cross into Iran without the necessary documents or legal permissions.
Upon questioning by border security personnel, the individuals were unable to produce valid travel documents authorizing their entry into Iran.
“All 33 individuals were detained at the site and subsequently handed over to the FIA for formal investigation and processing,” a security official involved in the operation stated. Authorities suspect the group may have been exploited by a human trafficking network operating along the Pak-Iran corridor.
“Preliminary investigations suggest that this may be part of a wider human smuggling operation, with possible links to regional trafficking rings that use Pakistan as a transit point to reach Iran and eventually Europe,” the official added.
The FIA has launched a deeper probe into the matter to determine the facilitators involved in this attempt and to identify any broader trafficking network operating in the region. Enhanced border surveillance and intelligence sharing are expected to continue in the coming weeks to curb such illegal activities.
