A spokesperson for the FIA said that the arrests were made through major operations led by the agency’s National Central Bureau (NCB) Interpol.
The arrested individuals — identified as Sufyan Ali, Akasha Iqbal, Zohaib Shehzad, Abdul Latif, Muhammad Jaleel, and Muhammad Ramiz Ashraf — were wanted by Punjab police in various criminal cases.
Ali was wanted in a terrorism and attempted murder case registered at the Wazirabad city police station in 2022 in Sialkot, while Shehzad was involved in a robbery case at the Satrah police station.
Meanwhile, Latif was wanted in a murder case by the Airport police station in Rahim Yar Khan.
Jaleel, who was a fugitive for nine years, was wanted by Dera Ghazi Khan police in a robbery case.
Ramiz was wanted in an attempted murder case by the Sadiqabad police station in Rawalpindi. Similarly, Iqbal was facing charges of fraud, registered in 2023, at the Civil Lines police station in Sialkot.
The FIA confirmed that red notices were issued through the NCB Interpol to facilitate the arrests.
The fugitives are being transferred from the UAE to the Lahore Airport, where they will be handed over to the Punjab police.
The FIA officials emphasised that these arrests were made possible through close coordination between the Interpol Islamabad and Interpol Abu Dhabi.
They reiterated that the NCB Interpol, equipped with modern technology, operated 24/7 to track and apprehend fugitives globally.
The agency reaffirmed its commitment to bringing fugitives to justice, stating that all available resources were being utilised to apprehend criminals evading the law, according to a spokesperson.
In April 2023, Punjab police arrested 10 proclaimed offenders from Gulf states and other countries in cases lodged against them at various police stations of the province.
Over the last two years, Dubai Police have arrested 432 international fugitives wanted for various criminal acts including leading or joining a criminal syndicate, premeditated murder, money laundering and armed robbery.
The force has also extradited 379 wanted persons to the concerned authorities of 30 different countries over the same period and repatriated 65 wanted fugitives from abroad for various criminal charges such as premeditated murder, armed robbery, assault leading to death, jewellery theft, attempted theft, and other financial crimes with total financial claims of Dh517,981,823.
Major General Jamal Salem Al Jallaf, Director of the General Department of Criminal Investigation, confirmed that the Wanted Persons Department had played a vital role in arresting some of the world's most notorious crime lords with tireless teamwork and utilising sophisticated surveillance technologies.
"Over the past two years, we have exchanged 1,830 security tips with member states of Interpol through the National Office of the Ministry of Interior and carried out successful joint international operations that dismantled transnational criminal syndicates and brought down drug and crime lords," Al Jallaf revealed.
Last month, Dubai Police participated with six European countries in Operation' Desert Light' targeting dozens of high-value targets and drug lords that had come together to form what was known as a 'super cartel', which controlled around one-third of the cocaine trade in Europe. The Operation led to arresting 49 drug kingpins and members of a prolific transnational criminal network involved in large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering crimes.
In 2021, Dubai Police captured Moufide'Mouf' Bouchibi, a French drug lord involved in drug trafficking and smuggling operations across Europe with an estimated annual street value of 70 million euros ($82.6m).
Bouchibi became an international kingpin known as'The Ghost', had been travelling under a false identity and had been on the run for ten years using forged documents when Dubai Police arrested him and extradited him to France.
In the same year, the Dubai Police also arrested one of Italy's most wanted criminals, Raffaele Imperiale, an alleged kingpin of the organised crime syndicate 'Camorra', which is involved in drug and weapons trafficking crimes across international borders.
The force also arrested Imperial's right-hand man Raffaele Mauriello, who is responsible for plotting and executing murders and assassinations using unlicensed firearms.
