Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) launched what is being called a nationwide crackdown on the illegal sales of “pre-activated” foreign SIMs in markets in major cities across the country.

The authorities said that these SIMs were being used for fraud, “unverified communications” and other criminal activities, and that their sale posed a threat to public or national security, particularly in regards to their lack of traceability.