A special investigation team of the Federal Investigation Agency has arrested a prime suspect in the Libya boat tragedy, sources in the institution told Aaj News on Tuesday.

They said that prime suspect Saeed Ilyas was the person who sent more than 10 people to Libya. He was arrested from Gujrat. Apart from the boat tragedy, they added that he was wanted in 12 other cases.

Gujrat city and its suburbs are known as a hotspot for “agents” – shady middlemen who smuggle customers by land, sea and air.

At least 13 people were killed in a boat wreck near Libya’s port city of Benghazi, according to the Foreign Office.

Two sons of Ilyas live in Libya, sources said, adding that with their help he used to send people Italy via Libya route.

Last week, the FIA launched a probe into the network of traffickers responsible for sending Pakistani migrants abroad. The agency’s Gujrat circle has so far registered 10 cases against human traffickers involved in sending the victims illegally to Italy via Dubai and Libya.

In the period of March 5 to 11, at least 403 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya, the UN International Organization for Migration said on Monday.

Last month, a boat carrying migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and several other countries crashed against rocks on the southern Italian coast.

The vessel had set sail from Turkiye several days ago and crashed in stormy weather near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria, with bodies, shoes, and debris washing up along a long stretch of shoreline.

Pakistan is in economic freefall. A dire downturn – caused by decades of mismanagement and political instability – has drained dollar reserves, spurred runaway inflation and caused widespread factory closures.

The desperate situation is creating an incentive for people to take perilous, illegal routes to Europe.

Nearly 90 per cent of Pakistanis who recently arrived in Italy used a human smuggler, according to a 2022 survey by the Mixed Migration Centre, a Europe-based research group.

An official from FIA, speaking to AFP earlier this month, estimated 40,000 illegal trips are attempted every year.

Spain recently announced those living in the country for two years could seek temporary residency and officially enter the workforce, while Italy has also introduced a scheme to “regularise” the employment of undocumented migrants.