Federal Investigation Agency


The Federal Investigation Agency is a border control, criminal investigation, counter-intelligence and security agency under the control of the interior secretary of Pakistan, tasked with investigative jurisdiction on undertaking operations against terrorism, espionage, federal crimes, smuggling as well as infringement and other specific crimes.
Codified under the Constitution of Pakistan in 1974, the institution functions under the Ministry of Interior. The FIA also undertakes international operations with the close co-operation and co-ordination of Interpol. Headquartered in Islamabad, the agency has various branches and field offices located in all major cities throughout Pakistan.

Objectives

The FIA's main goal and priority is to protect the nation's interests and defend Pakistan's interests locally, to uphold and enforce criminal law, and law enforcement in the country.

Structure

As of 2022, FIA has 11 active departments to lead criminal charges and investigation, with priorities:
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Anti Human Trafficking and Smuggling
  • Counter-Terrorism
  • Economic Crime
  • Electricity, Gas, Oil Anti Theft Unit
  • FIA Academy
  • Immigration
  • Interpol
  • Intellectual Property Rights
  • Integrated Border Management System

    Priorities

  • Counter-terrorism Wing —Tasked to protect Pakistan from all kinds of terrorist attacks, including cyber, bioterrorism, chemical, electronic and nuclear terrorism.
  • Anti-Corruption Wing —Tasked with undertaking investigations and combat all public corruption at all levels of command.
  • Economic Crime Wing —Mandate to protect Pakistan from economic terrorism and protection of intellectual property rights of the people..
  • Immigration Wing —Combat human trafficking activities and resist illegal immigration in Pakistan.
  • Technical Wing —Tasked to make efforts to protect Pakistan against foreign intelligence operations and espionage as well as using scientific assistance to resolve high-technology crimes.
  • Legal Branch —Responsible to provide legal guidance in all administrative and operational matters as well as protect civil rights.
  • National Central Bureau —Tasked to combat transnational/national criminal organizations and enterprises with assistance from Interpol and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  • Anti Trafficking Unit —Tasked to combat major violent crimes, to ensure country-wide coverage of human trafficking, as well as to prevent and protect the victims of trafficking.

    History

Background

After the 1971 war with India, police reforms were carried out by Pakistan after adopting recommendations from the report submitted by bureaucrat G. Ahmad in Prime Minister Secretariat, on 7 March 1972. The Federal Investigation Agency was created on 13 January 1975, after being codified in the Constitution with the passing of the FIA Act, 1974, by Pakistan's Legislature. Initially, its first roles were to build efforts against organized crimes, smuggling, human trafficking, immigration offences, and passport scandals.
When the FIA was created, it took cases on corruption at every level of the government. Although ostensibly a crime-investigation service, the FIA also did investigations of accused political opponents and critics of financial impropriety, from tax evasions to taking bribery while in office.

National security and efforts against terrorism

Initially, its role was to conduct investigations on public corruption but the scope of the FIA's investigation was increased to take actions against communist terrorism in the 1980s. In 1981, the FIA agents successfully investigated and interrogated the culprits behind the hijacking of a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 720 CR, immediately holding Murtaza Bhutto for its responsibility. The FIA keenly tracked the whereabouts of Murtaza Bhutto in Syria, and successfully limited the influence of his al-Zulfikar group. In 1985, the FIA's undercover operation busted the drug trade, with the illicit trade leaders and their culprits apprehended by the FIA. Known as the "Pakistan League Affair", the FIA effectively put an end to the illicit drug trade with the arrest of the gang's key drug lord.
From 1982 to 1988, the FIA launched a series of investigations and probes against Pakistan Communist Party leader Jam Saqi and aided the court proceedings relating to its findings. In 1986, the FIA successfully infiltrated the terrorist group responsible for hijacking Pan Am Flight 73, and quickly detained the Libyan commercial pilot suspected of having a role in the hijack.
After securing voting plurality in 1993 Pakistani general elections, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto further widened the scope of FIA, making FIA akin to Inter-Services Intelligence in the intelligence community. After approving the appointment of senior FIA agent Rehman Malik, the FIA's intelligence and investigations were now conducted at the international level, with close co-ordination with the American FBI. The FIA notably worked together with the FBI to conduct investigations of the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center in New York, United States. The FIA and FBI tracked down the mastermind of that bombing, Ramzi Yousef, in Pakistan. In 1995, the successful investigation led to the extradition of Yousef to the United States.
In the 1990s, the FIA directed by Malik, was involved in leading investigations and actions against al-Qaeda operatives, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Yousef, and assisted the FBI to apprehend Youssef in 1995, and Mohammed in 2002. The FIA pushed its efforts against terrorism and tracked crime syndicated organizations affiliated with the terrorist organizations. The FIA was said to be launching secret intelligence operations against the terrorist organizations, which mounted a secret competition with the ISI. Despite difficulties, the FIA had gained world prominence after reportedly leading successful operations against terrorism in 1996.
In 2001, the FIA successfully investigated the case against Sultan Mahmood for his alleged part in nuclear terrorism, though the FIA cleared Mahmood of his charges in 2002. In 2003, the role of counter-terrorism was assigned to the FIA, which led to an establishment of the Counter-Terrorism Wing. The CTW agents were provided extensive training and equipment handling by the FBI under the Anti Terrorism Assistance Program.
The FIA began investigating Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his movement around the world was monitored by the FIA. The FIA agents kept the investigations with FBI agents over the case of Mohammed. Eventually FIA's successful investigations led to Mohammed's capture in Rawalpindi, Punjab, in a paramilitary operation conducted jointly by the CIA and the ISI in 2003. In 2002, the FIA continued its investigation and had strict surveillance of the movements of Aafia Siddiqui in Karachi. In 2003, the FIA had been investigating the investigation on Siddiqui's movements and activities, subsequently sharing with the United States.

Anti-infringement efforts

Efforts on probes against copyright violation was increased after a petition was filed by the FBI which disputed Pakistan's commitment to rooting out infringement within its national borders in 2001.
In 2002, the FIA launched several probes against copyright infringement and Pakistan was en route to having its US duty-free GSP agreements being taken away from it in 2005. To avert any further negative fallout, sections of the Copyright Ordinance 1962 were included in the FIA's schedule of offences. This legislation paved the way in 2005, under the direction of the federal interior ministry, to raid the country's largest video wholesale centre: The Rainbow Centre.
Raiding the factories of the dealers that operated within the centre proved to be a highly successful enterprise, resulting in a reduction of 60% of sales of bootlegged video material. A spokesman from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, later confirmed, that many of the outlets had stopped selling unlicensed video goods and were now selling mobile phones, highlighting that the FIA's raids and the resultant legal action were a success.

Intelligence operations

In 1972–73, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto adopted many recommendations of the Hamoodur Rahman Commission's papers after seeing the intelligence failure in East Pakistan. This led the reformation of the FIA as Prime Minister Bhutto visioned the FIA as equivalent to American FBI which not only protects the country from internal crises but also from foreign suspected threats therefore he established the FIA on the same pattern. In 1970s, Prime Minister Bhutto had the Pakistan intelligence to actively run military intelligence programs in various countries to procure scientific expertise and technical papers in line of Alsos Mission of Manhattan Project.
Both the FIA and the Intelligence Bureau were empowered during the government and the scope of their operation was expanded during 1970s. Though ISI did lose its importance in the 1970s, the ISI regained its importance in the 1980s after successfully running the military intelligence program against the Soviet Union. Sensing the nature of competition, President Zia-ul-Haq consolidated the intelligence services after the ISI getting training from the CIA in 1980s, and subsequently improved its methods of intelligence.
In 1990s, the ISI and FIA, in many ways, were at war in the poverty-stricken landscape of Pakistan politics. The ISI used its Islamic guerrillas as deniable foot soldiers to strike at FIA credibility, and according to published accounts, the FIA turned to Israeli Mossad and Israeli Intelligence Community through Pervez Musharraf to helped down the terrorist networks in the country. Throughout the 1990s, the intelligence community remained under fire and competition in each services for credibility.
After the 11 September 2001, the attacks in the United States history, the FBI launched the largest investigation in its history and soon determined that the hijackers were linked to al-Qaeda, led by Saudi exiled Osama bin Laden. Same as just after 9/11 attacks in the United States, the FIA gained credibility over the ISI in the United States. The FIA and ISI were also mentioned in The Path to 9/11 television series.