ISLAMABAD ( News Desk) – In a jaw-dropping twist, human traffickers have devised yet another outrageous scheme — this time disguising migrants as a professional football squad.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) revealed that a 22-member bogus football team managed to fly from Sialkot Airport all the way to Japan. But the dream run didn’t last long — Japanese authorities flagged their papers as counterfeit and swiftly deported the entire group back to Pakistan.
The ringleader, Malik Waqas, has been taken into custody. Investigators say he had set up a sham club called Golden Football Trial, gave the men crash-course training to pose as athletes, and pocketed a staggering Rs4 million per head for the dangerous gamble.
An FIR has been lodged at the FIA Gujranwala police station, and officials vow to uncover the full network behind this latest smuggling scandal.
Analysts warn that this bizarre episode highlights how smugglers keep changing tactics to dodge law enforcement, putting desperate people at risk of fraud, exploitation, and deportation.
