On March 9, 2025, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) announced the arrest of Usman Jajja, the prime suspect in the 2024 Greece boat capsize that claimed at least 40 Pakistani lives.
The Greece Boat Capsize, involving three vessels sinking off the Greek coast, sparked a year-long manhunt after killing dozens among 175 illegal migrants. Jajja, nabbed in Gilgit Baltistan after escaping Sialkot jail, ran a global smuggling racket, the FIA revealed, marking a breakthrough in Pakistan’s trafficking fight.
The Pakistan Embassy in Athens reported that the boats carrying 45, 47, and 83 passengers left Libya’s Tobruk port. The third, with 76 Pakistanis, saw 39 rescued (36 Pakistani), but 40 perished across the trio.
Read: List of Rescued Pakistanis Released Following Greece Boat Incident
PM Shehbaz Sharif’s 2024 order spurred a nationwide anti-smuggling blitz, axing 35 FIA officials and ousting ex-DG Ahmad Ishaq Jahangir for sluggish probes. Jajja was jailed during the incident and bolted post-bail until now. His capture cracks open the Greece Boat Capsize case.
A January 2025 Mauritania to Spain boat sinking echoed the Greece horror, killing 44 of 66 Pakistanis among 86 aboard, 36 rescued, others presumed dead. Socio-economic gaps fuel such risky treks, despite edicts like Jamia Naeemia’s Shariah ban on illegal migration.
FIA’s screening will probe Jajja’s network, can it stem the tide of the Greece Boat Capsize fallout? The Greece Boat Capsize arrest Jajja caught, 40 lives avenged rocks Pakistan’s smuggling war.
