Pakistani and Moroccan authorities arrest several suspects involved in boat accident

 The Moroccan navy has arrested at least half a dozen African human traffickers, while five people have been arrested in Pakistan. Report

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Islamabad (Point News Today / Sputnik - International Press Agency - January 25, 2025) Pakistani and Moroccan authorities have arrested several suspects involved in a boat accident in Mauritania. More than 40 Pakistanis died in a boat accident in the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month. According to the report, Pakistani and Moroccan authorities have claimed to have arrested about half a dozen suspects who are said to have been involved in an attempt to smuggle about 65 Pakistanis from Mauritania to Europe, which resulted in the death of more than 40 Pakistanis in the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month.

According to the investigation of a high-level government team sent to Morocco to investigate the boat accident in the Atlantic Ocean, most of the Pakistani victims of the accident were killed by African human traffickers. Sources familiar with the investigation of the high-level investigation team said that the Moroccan navy has arrested at least half a dozen African human traffickers and legal action has been initiated against them under local laws.

On the other hand, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials have claimed to have arrested at least 5 human traffickers, 2 of whom are from Sialkot, who are suspected of sending one of the victims of the Moroccan boat accident abroad. The two men, who belong to Sambrial tehsil of Sialkot, are accused of trying to take Aamir Ali, who died in a migrant boat, to Spain after taking a ransom of Rs 5.3 million.

In addition, the spokesperson of the FIA ​​Gujranwala said that at least 3 suspected smugglers involved in various cases have been arrested during raids at different places in the area. Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a special task force to prevent groups involved in human trafficking in Pakistan, which he will lead himself. While chairing a meeting to review the steps taken to prevent human trafficking, the Prime Minister had said that we will bring the criminals involved in human trafficking to justice.

The meeting was informed that 6 organized human trafficking groups have been identified, 12 FIRs have been registered, 25 people have been identified, 3 key suspects have been arrested and 16 names have been added to the passport control list. Meanwhile, FIA sources, aware of the findings of the government team that visited Morocco early in the month of December, told the journal that the survivors had informed about the atrocities of African human traffickers who allegedly killed their compatriots after torturing them and throwing their bodies into the sea. The team comprising officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, FIA and Intelligence Bureau spent 4 to 5 days in Morocco. The investigation team has also briefed Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and is expected to submit its report to the Prime Minister soon. The government is expected to formulate its official position on the Moroccan boat accident in the light of this report. The report states that preparations are underway to repatriate the surviving Pakistanis, while the bodies of those who died have also been recovered from the boat carrying the missing migrants. Sources say that although formal legal proceedings are being completed, the timeframe for their repatriation is yet to be finalized.