ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested five suspects involved in human smuggling and defrauding citizens, it said on Saturday.

The development comes amid a crackdown against agents involved in sending impoverished Pakistanis abroad through dangerous routes, luring them with a chance at a better life in Europe.

The latest arrests were made by the FIA in different areas of Gujranwala and Gujrat districts for swindling citizens out of millions of rupees by offering fake visas and jobs abroad.

“The suspects were found involved in illegally sending innocent citizens abroad,” the FIA said in a statement, identifying the suspects as Rifaqat, Shabraiz, Muhammad Siddique, Muhammad Yasin and Qasim Shaheen.

Rafaqat and Shabraiz took Rs2.4 million from a citizen for employment in Italy, but sent him to Kyrgyzstan from where he was deported, according to the agency.

Siddique took over Rs2 million from a citizen for employment in Spain, while Yasin received more than Rs645,000 promising to find overseas employment to a citizen. Shaheen duped another man into paying Rs4 million for a job in the United Kingdom (UK).

“The accused had gone into hiding after receiving huge sums of money,” the FIA said, adding that an investigation has been launched against them.

Earlier this month, the FIA said it had arrested an agent involved in the Morocco boat tragedy, in which dozens of Pakistanis attempting to travel illegally to Europe had drowned near the African country’s coast.

The boat had set off from Mauritania in January with 86 migrants on board, among them 66 Pakistanis, for the Canary Islands administered by Spain, international rights group Walking Borders had said. Moroccan authorities said on January 16 that 36 people were rescued from the vessel, while Pakistan confirmed survivors of the tragedy included 22 of its nationals.

A record 10,457 migrants, or 30 people a day, died trying to reach Spain in 2024. Most of them died while attempting to cross the Atlantic route from West African countries such as Mauritania and Senegal to the Canary Islands, according to Walking Borders.

In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos, marking one of the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Pakistani government has ramped up efforts in recent months to combat human smugglers facilitating dangerous journeys for illegal immigrants to Europe, resulting in several arrests.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also urged increased collaboration with international agencies like Interpol to ensure swift action against human trafficking networks.

KARACHI: Police have arrested two suspects for allegedly poisoning a local TikTok star to death in Pakistan’s southern Ghotki district, officials said on Saturday.

Sumeera Rajput, who had over 58,000 followers and one million likes on TikTok, was found dead at her residence in the Bago Wah area on Friday afternoon, according to Ghotki Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muhammad Anwar Khetran.

Police arrested two suspects, Babu Rajput and Muhammad Imran, for poisoning the content creator and lodged a case against them on the complaint of the deceased’s sister.

“A post-mortem of Sameera Rajput has been conducted, which has revealed that she died because of poisoning,” Khetran said in a statement. “Further investigation is underway with the arrested suspects.”

This is the third death involving woman tiktokers in Pakistan in less than two months.

On July 11, a father shot dead his daughter in Rawalpindi after she refused to delete her account on TikTok.

In the Muslim-majority country, women can be subjected to violence by family members for not following strict rules on how to behave in public, including in online spaces.

On June 2, Sana Yousaf, a 17-year-old content creator, was shot dead at her Islamabad home by another social media influencer, Umar Hayat, 22, after she rejected his repeated advances, according to Islamabad police chief Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi.

Yousuf, originally from the scenic northern region of Chitral, was known for promoting traditional Chitrali music and dress through her videos. She also advocated for girls’ education.

Hours before her murder, she had posted a photo celebrating her birthday with friends.

Women have found both audience and income on the app, which is rare in a country where fewer than a quarter of the women participate in the formal economy.

However, only 30 percent of women in Pakistan own a smartphone compared to twice as many men (58 percent), the largest gap in the world, according to the Mobile Gender Gap Report of 2025.

Pakistani telecommunications authorities have repeatedly blocked or threatened to block the app over what they call “immoral behavior.”

In southwestern Balochistan, where tribal law governs many rural areas, a man confessed to orchestrating the murder of his 14-year-old daughter earlier this year over TikTok videos that he said compromised her “honor.”