US Charges, Sanctions Pakistani For Smuggling Immigrants - Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th April, 2021) The US government has charged and sanctioned a Pakistani national for leading a scheme to smuggle illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan, the departments of Justice and Treasury announced.

"According to court documents, between January 2015 and December 2020, Abid Ali Khan, 40, allegedly organized, led, and worked, with others in his Pakistan-based smuggling network to facilitate the travel of undocumented individuals to the United States," the Justice Department said in a release.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia returned an indictment while the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against Khan, his "Transnational Criminal Organization" and three of Khan's associates.

The sanctions require the blocking and reporting of all their assets in the US and prohibit all dealings with them by US persons.

"In addition to the national security concerns, the practice of smuggling-for-profit and the facilitation of fraudulent documentation undermines the credibility of the US asylum system, damaging public confidence in the vetting process, and jeopardizing access to protection for vulnerable persons fleeing conflict, famine and persecution," the Treasury Department said in the release.

Khan's network coordinate the smuggling of foreigners to the United States for an average cost of approximately $20,000, which included fees to procure fraudulent or counterfeit documents and make payoffs to corrupt officials, according to the Treasury Department.