Pakistan arrests main suspect behind 2023 Greek boat tragedy that killed over 250 nationals

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday arrested the main suspect behind a 2023 boat capsize off Greece, which claimed lives of over 250 Pakistanis, the agency said.
Hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned, when an overcrowded vessel traveling from Libya capsized and sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek coastal town of Pylos in June 2023. This disaster became one of the deadliest boat tragedies ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.
It highlighted the perilous journeys many migrants undertake, often driven by economic hardship, as young individuals seek better financial opportunities by attempting dangerous crossings to Europe, prompting the Pakistani government to order “intensified” measures against human traffickers.
The FIA said the suspect, Mohammad Iqbal, who had been living in Libya since 2013, was arrested by FIA immigration officials upon arrival at the Lahore airport.
“The suspect was running a human trafficking network from Libya,” the FIA said in a statement. “The suspect illegally sent several Pakistani citizens to Europe from Libya via boats.”
The FIA said it had traced illegal transactions amounting to Rs80 million ($287,356) from Iqbal’s bank account, adding that he was booked in multiple cases registered with the FIA Lahore zone.
FIA Lahore Director Sarfraz Virk said a crackdown on human trafficking networks was ongoing, vowing to bring human traffickers to justice.
“Strict punishment will be meted out to human traffickers responsible for boat incidents,” he was quoted as saying by the FIA. “FIA teams are in constant contact with the affected families.”
Last month, the FIA issued red notices for 20 foreign-based human traffickers involved in the 2023 Greek boat tragedy. A red notice is a request from a member country of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to other member states to locate and arrest a person to extradite them to face criminal charges.
Several Pakistanis, in a bid to escape economic hardships at home, often undertake these illegal and dangerous journeys to enter Europe.
Last year, five Pakistani nationals died in a shipwreck off the southern Greek island of Gavdos on Dec. 14. More recently, a boat capsized near Morocco’s coast on Jan. 15 while carrying 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis, according to migrant rights group Walking Borders. Pakistan’s Foreign Office has confirmed 22 survivors of the incident.