Authorities in the United States designated a Pakistan-based travel agency as a "transnational criminal organization" (TCO) and said the firm was involved in human smuggling, according to a report in Dawn. 

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the US issued a statement, saying the Abid Ali Khan TCO “is a human smuggling organization based in Nowshera, Pakistan, that has facilitated the unlawful smuggling of foreign nationals into the United States” and other countries.”

Abid Ali Kahn allegedly organizes and leads a widespread smuggling organization that facilitates the illegal smuggling of individuals through various countries and to the United States, said US acting assistant attorney general Nicholas McQuaid. 

The statement also added that the designation is an important step forward and they “should not be allowed to prey on vulnerable and take advantage of US financial system.”

The group is active in the Middle East and Latin American and is involved in moving people with “nefarious motivations” into the United States. 

The gang often provides travelers with fraudulently obtained passports from different countries to facilitate his clients’ global movement and smuggling to the United States. 

It frequently utilizes a common route of travel that begins in Pakistan or Afghanistan, transiting through certain South and Central American countries before arriving at the southern border of the United States.