Karachi Police Chief Says Foreign-Based Gangsters Run Extortion Network as Interpol Notices Issued

The additional inspector general of police for Karachi has said that foreign-based gangsters are operating an extortion network in the city, and has assured industrialists that police are treating the problem seriously (Geo News).

Speaking at the office of the SITE Association of Industry, the additional IG confirmed that Karachi has seen a fresh wave of extortion incidents over the past two weeks.

The recent surge has targeted builders and traders through international calls and attacks on business premises, according to the report, triggering alarm within the business community.

Interpol Red Notices have been issued against five gangsters, the additional IG said, and those men have since scaled back their activities.

Extortion in Karachi has historically tracked the strength of the networks able to enforce a demand, and the shift to international calling is a familiar pattern: it moves the caller beyond the reach of local policing while leaving the threat local, which is what makes an Interpol notice the operative instrument rather than an arrest warrant.

The claims and figures here are the police account as reported; no independent verification of the network’s structure or the notices’ effect was available.