Human trafficker arrested for smuggling people from Pakistan to Europe through Libya: he was in Caltanissetta

Carabinieri di Caltanissetta, in coordination with the International Police Cooperation Service, executed a provisional arrest aimed at extradition issued by the Pakistani judicial authority against a 41-year-old from that country investigated for human trafficking. In January, a "red notice" was issued against him by Interpol following the extension of international searches by the Interpol Office in Islamabad. There is a pending preventive custody order against the man issued in December 2025 by the Special Immigration Judge of Peshawar (Pakistan) for the crime provided for by the Pakistani penal code of "human trafficking", which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. The arrest was validated by the Caltanissetta Court of Appeals, at the request of the local Public Prosecutor's Office.

The operation, conducted by Carabinieri from the Caltanissetta company and the Ros, allowed for the location of the wanted person in a historic center residence, where he was arrested and made available to the Italian judicial authority.

During the investigation, from the analysis of the precautionary measure, the involvement of the 41-year-old in a human smuggling operation was revealed, where migrants departing from Pakistan were being trafficked through Libya, along the central Mediterranean route, to illegally enter the European Union, after paying substantial sums of money to the organization, amounting to about 11,000-12,000 euros per person.

The Pakistani criminal organization was also linked to an incident of shipwreck of a vessel near Zawiya, Libya, on board of which were 73 passengers, 63 of whom were Pakistani citizens, of which only 33 are reported to have survived.