$1 million reward is offered for information that leads to arrest of ‘prolific human smuggler’
A suspect described as a “prolific human smuggler” by a top federal agent in Miami is wanted by the U.S. government, which is offering a couple of $1 million rewards — the first for information leading to his arrest and the second for information leading to the financial disruption of his smuggling network, authorities said Thursday.
Abid Ali Khan, 40, is charged with leading a Pakistani-based operation that since 2015 has profited from trafficking hundreds of Pakistanis, Afghans and other foreigners without legal papers into the United States, including Florida.
Khan is accused of conspiring with others in his network to plan and coordinate the international travel for the undocumented foreigners, including providing them with false paperwork to travel through multiple countries.
“Abid Ali Khan is alleged to be a prolific human smuggler who commands a criminal organization that spans the globe,” Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Miami, said in a statement. “Khan is a very dangerous individual whose activities and associations may pose a national security risk to the United States and our partner nations.”
Salisbury said Khan, who was indicted in April by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia, said he was confident that the $1 million reward for his arrest — offered by the U.S. Department of State — would help international law enforcement track down the fugitive. Salisbury’s HSI office led the humantrafficking investigation of
Khan and his network.
Khan, who also faces sanctions by the Treasury Department, was indicted on charges of conspiring to encourage and induce an alien to unlawfully enter the United States, encouraging and inducing an alien to unlawfully enter the United States, and bringing an alien to the United States.
The reward offered for information on Khan’s whereabouts is offered by the State Department’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program. More than 75 international criminals and major narcotics traffickers have been brought to justice under that program and the Narcotics Rewards Program since 1986, authorities said. To date, the State Department has paid more than $135 million in rewards.