Pakistani found guilty of people smuggling

A 37-year-old Pakistani man has been found guilty by a Perth jury of involvement in an international people smuggling operation.

It took the jury more than four hours to convict Masood Ahmed Chaudhry of two charges relating to the interception of a 20-metre-long Indonesian fishing boat carrying more than 200 people near Christmas Island in April 2001.

The District Court was told Chaudhry demanded thousands of dollars and arranged fake passports for two Afghani men to travel from Pakistan to Indonesia, where they boarded the boat.

He was remanded in custody until he is sentenced next month.