Customs Field Formations launching special anti-smuggling teams

PESHAWAR: The Customs Field Formations across the country have started constituting special teams to seize smuggled goods.

A press release issued here on Thursday said that smuggling has long been a source of concern for the country and is one of the major components of the black economy. It said the smugglers’ mafia has badly hit the genuine business practices across the country. But the Pakistan Customs under the umbrella of Federal Board of Revenue despite limited resources is doing its utmost to tackle the menace of smuggling. The statement said the major entry points/smuggling routes in the country were being monitored by customs mobile squads, besides the information-based joint operations carried out by Pakistan Customs with the assistance of law-enforcement agencies for the seizure of smuggled goods. “The increased enforcement measures against smuggling have yielded positive results and the ratio of seized smuggled goods has registered an increase by 20 percent for the period July-April 2018-19 if compared to figures of the corresponding period of the previous year,” it added.