PNN: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has set up Pre-Departure Facilitation Desks at all zonal offices to assist international travellers with immigration procedures, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced Sunday on X.
Naqvi said the desks were operational with immediate effect and would be accessible in person, through helplines and by email, with details available at airports, border points and on the FIA website. He said the initiative was intended to streamline facilitation for departing passengers.
The minister also visited the FIA Karachi office on Sunday, where he reviewed the agency’s performance and announced enforcement measures in priority areas.
During the visit, Naqvi reiterated a zero-tolerance stance on hawala and hundi operations, informal money transfer channels used to move funds outside official systems. “The entire money trail of elements involved in money laundering should be exposed,” he said.
The interior minister also directed intensified action against human-smuggling networks. “Elements who deceive people with false promises of jobs and send them abroad deserve not even the slightest concession,” Naqvi said, instructing officials to pursue such cases without outside influence.
FIA officials informed the minister that, over the past four months, 20 agents allegedly involved in human-smuggling activities had been arrested, and non-customs goods and narcotics valued at Rs140 million had been seized.
Acknowledging resource constraints, Naqvi said staffing shortages in the FIA Karachi Zone would be addressed on a priority basis and that necessary resources would be provided to officers. He added that improved performance would be expected in return.
Officials said the directives follow an increase in the number of passengers offloaded at major airports, as well as disciplinary action against FIA personnel found involved in irregular facilitation.
In December, the FIA informed a parliamentary panel that 66,154 passengers had been offloaded during the year as part of efforts to curb organised beggar groups and illegal outbound travel. In the same month, FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar Raja ordered departmental action against 10 officials over corruption, indiscipline and misuse of authority.