The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested a woman linked to the recent boat tragedy in Morocco that killed 44 Pakistanis.

The arrest took place in Gujrat and the authorities placed her in judicial custody.

The suspect, Fatima, was allegedly collecting money at the behest of her sons from individuals attempting to reach Europe, FIA officials said.

She confessed that she worked alongside her three sons to send people abroad, with her son Khawar previously traveling to Senegal with ten individuals as a carrier.

Fatima revealed that Khawar had also made a trip to Senegal in April 2024, while another son, Hassan, is currently in Italy. The third son, Farhan, has been evading authorities since the incident.

Officials have secured her mobile phone and frozen bank accounts as part of the investigation.

Cases filed

Meanwhile, the relatives of the deceased have filed three cases in Gujranwala. The first case was filed by the relatives of two Sialkot brothers, Irfan and Arsalan, accusing human smuggler Asghar Sindhi. The second case was lodged by the family of Gujrat resident Ali Raza, also naming Fadi Gujjar as an accused. The relatives of Khawar Hassan filed a similar case against Gujjar.

The Pakistani government on Saturday dispatched a high-level investigation team to Morocco to look into the tragic deaths of at least 44 Pakistani migrants in a boat accident off the Moroccan coast.

The CEO of the migrant rights organization Walking Borders, Helena Maleno, stated that as many as 50 migrants may have drowned in the incident, with 44 of them being Pakistani.

She further revealed that the migrants had been stranded at sea for 13 days without rescue.

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