FIA apprehends hawala operator, recovers millions in cash

KARACHI: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) – anti-corruption circle – conducted a raid in Karachi’s Bahadurabad area and apprehended a suspect allegedly involved in hawala/hundi and illegal foreign currency exchange operation, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The FIA, acting on a tip-off, apprehended the accused – identified as Yousuf – believed to be a key player in the hawala hundi and illegal currency exchange network.

During the search of the suspect’s house, the law enforcers recovered domestic and foreign currencies including Rs 10 million, 2,000 USD, 48,000 Saudi Riyal, 120 million Iranian Taman, 94,600 Syrian pounds, Rs 30,700 Indian currency, 320 Lebanese dinars, 17,500 Iraqi dinars, and 10,560 Turkmenistan manats, leading to the immediate registration of a case.

Earlier to this, three Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials encountered fierce resistance and got injured while conducting an operation against the dollar hoarders and illegal money exchange entities.

During these high-stakes operations, FIA personnel encountered fierce resistance from staff members working for illegal money exchange entities. The clashes resulted in injuries to three FIA officers who were diligently executing their duties.

In a concerted effort to crack down on illegal dollar hoarding, the Federal Investigation Agency and several other agencies launched a series of operations in the capital city.