Pakistan’s 22 Fake Footballers Land In Japan, FIA Nabs And Deports Them
Pakistan’s FIA uncovers shocking human trafficking racket where a fake football team was used to smuggle 22 men to Japan. Mastermind Malik Waqas charged in a multi-million scam involving forged documents.
- World News
- 2 min read
New Delhi: The top law enforcement agency in Pakistan, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), caught a gang of 22 Pakistani individuals suspected of engaging in human trafficking while posing as members of a football team. The 22-man party flew to Japan from Sialkot, according to media reports.
However, when Japanese authorities discovered that the men's documents were fraudulent, they were deported after landing in Japan. The guys were instructed to act and behave like professional football players and carried several forged documents, according to an FIA official.
According to the report, Malik Waqas was identified by the FIA as the person who had created a phony football team called "Golden Football Trial." Due to his prior involvement in a similar scheme in 2024, Waqas is considered a key suspect in the people trafficking scam.
The investigation claims that Waqas illegally sent each member of the football team overseas by charging them PKR 4 million (about INR 12 lakh).
It has been revealed that Waqas falsified several documents, including phony Ministry of Foreign Affairs documents and registrations from the Pakistan Football Federation.
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According to the report, on September 15, Waqas was taken into custody by the FIA's Composite Circle. Additionally, the FIA started looking into the situation. During questioning, Waqas admitted to using a phony football team to send 17 guys to Japan in January 2024.
A crackdown on unauthorized immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of Afghan people, was initiated by Pakistan in November 2023.
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According to the interior ministry, around 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, including those who were born in Pakistan and have lived there their entire lives, were living in Pakistan, with roughly 1.7 million of them lacking proper documentation.
The decision was made, according to Islamabad, after Afghan nationals were implicated in 14 of the 24 suicide bombings this year, smuggling, and crimes. The terrorists are accused of using Afghan territory to train militants and plot strikes inside Pakistan.
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