On April 7, a federal grand jury in Virginia indicted a Pakistani citizen for allegedly leading a scheme to smuggle undocumented individuals into the United States from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
According to court documents, between January 2015 and December 2020, Abid Ali Khan, allegedly organized, led, and worked with others in his Pakistan-based smuggling network to facilitate the travel of undocumented individuals to the United States. Khan also allegedly encouraged, induced, and brought undocumented individuals to the United States for commercial advantage and financial gain.
“Khan allegedly led a global human smuggling operation that used fraudulent documents and international travel routes to facilitate the entry of unauthorized individuals into the United States,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh for the Eastern District of Virginia. “We are committed to holding accountable those who seek personal monetary gain by compromising and undermining the integrity of the immigration process.”
In a recent Homeland Security Investigation (HIS) in Miami, it was revealed that Khan allegedly accepted payment in exchange for planning and coordinating international travel for foreign nationals from Pakistan through multiple countries, including Brazil.
In addition to the criminal charges filed against Khan, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it had designated Khan, and his transnational criminal organization, along with several other members of his smuggling network in connection with their involvement in a global network of human smugglers and the smuggling of undocumented noncitizens to the United States.
