Two PIA staff arrested in FIA raid on gold smuggling bid at Peshawar Airport

PESHAWAR: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) foiled a gold smuggling bid involving PIA employees at Bacha Khan International Airport on Sunday, ARY News reported.

According to an FIA spokesperson, FIA’s Commercial Banking Circle in Peshawar seized the gold and detained the suspects in a joint operation with the Airport Security Force (ASF).

Both Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) employees, who were part of the gold smuggling bid, were identified as Nasir Khan and Shahidullah, were taken into custody during the raid.

The suspects were posted at Peshawar Airport and are being investigated for facilitating other smuggling operations.

According to the reports, officials recovered 7,740 grams of gold from the suspects, which was hidden inside the luggage for illegal export.

The FIA confirmed that the suspects have been sent on a two-day physical remand for further interrogation.

Investigations may lead to further arrests of suspects involved in the gold smuggling bid and similar cases.

This operation highlights the FIA’s strengthened efforts to curb international smuggling networks operating through Pakistan’s airports.

Read More: FIA foils illegal Pakistan-Iran border crossing attempt.

Earlier, the FIA Balochistan Zone successfully foiled an illegal border crossing attempt and arrested foreign nationals at the Pakistan-Iran border.

According to FIA spokespersons, the anti-Human Trafficking Circle Quetta executed the operation and managed to stop the illegal border crossing attempt, arresting defamed agent Nadir and his assistant Haider, who were running human trafficking networks.

During the raid, individuals from Bangladesh, who had entered Pakistan unlawfully were attempting to enter Iran via Pakistan’s border, were also taken into custody.

FIA has been actively executing the operations against human trafficking networks and foiling the attempts of involved groups.

These operations are also part of the same efforts to fight against human smuggling and any kind of smuggling active in Pakistan, operating through different parts of country.