An incident at Tokyo’s airport has shocked everyone. A person attempted to send 22 individuals from Pakistan to Japan illegally by falsely presenting them as a football team. However, Japanese immigration authorities detected their deception. The ruse was uncovered during questioning when the fake documents were revealed, and the entire group was immediately deported. The incident points to a human trafficking ring based in Pakistan, and the mastermind has been arrested.
The group arrived in Japan wearing full football kits and claimed to be associated with the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF). They also possessed forged ‘No Objection Certificates’ (NOCs) purportedly issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In reality, the team was supposedly from a fictitious club called ‘Golden Football Trial,’ organized by Malik Waqas, a resident of Pasrur near Sialkot. The aim of these 22 ‘players’ was to participate in a football tournament in Japan, but it all turned out to be a pre-planned fraud.
Furthermore, the accused, Malik Waqas, had extorted 4 million Pakistani Rupees from each person for the trip. This was not his first attempt. In January 2024, he had sent 17 people to Japan in a similar manner, using fake documents and forged invitation letters from the Japanese club ‘Bovista FC.’ This time, the same strategy was employed, but the vigilance of the Japanese authorities foiled the plot.
The fake team departed from Sialkot airport using these documents. Following the exposure of the case, all 22 individuals were sent back to Pakistan, after which the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan arrested them. The FIA has called it a major case of human trafficking. According to reports, the FIA’s Composite Circle arrested Waqas on September 15 and filed several cases against him. The investigation revealed that this was a large human trafficking network that was exploiting fake sporting events.