Authorities in Saudi Arabia have recovered 12,000 Pakistani passports from Afghan nationals, it emerged on Thursday.
The development comes as law enforcement agencies launch a crackdown on unscrupulous elements involved in issuing fake citizenship documents to illegal migrants in the country, especially Afghans.
Sources said that the Saudi authorities have informed the Pakistani embassy in Riyadh of recovering a large number of Pakistani passports from Afghan citizens.
Director General Immigration and Passports Directorate Mustafa Kazi and the Federal Investigation Agency have started an investigation in this regard.
As a result of the investigations, the main suspect Umar Javed has been arrested in Lahore for making fake passports.
Javed’s arrest came after a former officer and a serving grade-15 officer of the Passport Directorate were arrested and probed. The sources said that the Pakistani passports were issued to Afghan citizens on fake identity cards.
They added that Kazi, who recently took charge of his post, was working with FIA officials to crack down on the individuals involved in making fake passports.
