214 FIA officers punished in 4 months over human trafficking, corruption charges

Following the rising complaints of human trafficking and corruption, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has dismissed 76 officials from service, demoted nine to the lower ranks, and sacked two others, besides awarding punishments to 127 others. 

The agency punished 214 officials in total during the last four months of 2025.

The scope of action was expanded on a wider scale following the reforms introduced within the agency by forming the first Directorate of Internal Accountability (DIA) at the FIA Headquarters in August 2025 to control its corrupt officers. The FIA also replicated similar structures at the zonal level under zonal directors.

A senior official said the FIA introduced a strict accountability mechanism to round up the human trafficking elements with itself in the aftermath of the boat incidents in Europe and Africa, in which a large number of Pakistanis lost their lives.

 In a high-level inquiry, it was revealed that a number of FIA officials were also involved in human smuggling. Similarly, a report published by the IMF, titled Pakistan: Governance and Corruption Diagnostic, in November 2025, also indicated corruption in public departments as a major reason for their inefficiency.

In order to address the complaints, FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar Raja delegated the powers of accountability to the level of additional director generals of the North and South zones and to zonal directors so that they could take meaningful actions against officers of up to the grade of 16.