Customs registers 33 seizures in Oct

LAHORE : The Directorate Intelligence & Investigation (I&I) Customs Lahore has registered a total of 33 seizures during the month of October 2022 amounting to value of Rs1170 million which is 191% higher in comparison to the value of seizures registered in the corresponding month.

FBR Chairman, Asim Ahmad while addressing the Directors Quarterly Conference convened in the Directorate General Intelligence & Investigation (I&I), headquarters office Islamabad, stressed need to beef up countrywide operations against smuggling and smuggled goods.

Director General (l&I) Customs Faiz Ahmad Chadhar has devised an anti-smuggling policy aligned with parameters of transparency and zero tolerance for smuggling. Anti-Smuggling Organisation (ASO) of the Directorate Lahore, has aligned its available (albeit scarce resources) in the current month to achieve better results against smuggling. ASO wing of the Directorate has framed seizures of different commodities including Fabric 89,159-kgs worth of Rs3,995, Electronics 2,508 pieces worth of Rs291 million, Office & Domestic furniture 2250 pieces worth of Rs113 million, NCP Vehicles 12 Nos. (Toyota Land Cruiser ZX 2017, Mercedes Car 2006, BMW Car 2004, Toyota Crown 2005, Toyota Prius Car 2009 etc) worth of Rs84.5 million, Cosmetics worth of Rs67 million, Shoes (Brands ALDO, IMAC, Steve Madden, Kurt Geiger etc) 15,981 pairs worth of Rs40 million, carrier vehicles 9 Nos. worth Rs39 million, Auto parts worth of Rs14.6 million, Crockery 33,644kg worth of Rs14 million, Cigarettes 1270 Bars worth of Rs11 million, Betel Nuts 6,274 kg worth of Rs7.5 million, Tyres 391 Nos. worth of Rs4.7 million and various miscellaneous goods i.e. dry coconut, spray skimmed milk, dry fruit, toys, tiles, electric & manual tools and heavy duty treadmills etc worth of Rs84.2 million.

The Director (l&I), Lahore, Ms Saima Shahzad, acting in the line of devised strategy, constituted a team under the supervision of Additional Director (ASO), Ch Rizwan Bashir Kalair, to analyse a tip-off regarding a hideout place of smuggled goods camouflaged inside a private school premises.

After proper surveillance, a team comprising of officers/officials of the Directorate including Deputy Director (ASO), Ali Asad and Superintendent (ASO), Rai Waqar and led by Additional Director (ASO), Rizwan Bashir successfully raided the godown on Oct 18, 2022 at 1800 hours, after obtaining proper search warrants U/S 162 of the CA, 1969 that led to a huge recovery of miscellaneous smuggled goods in a single catch comprising fabric, shoes, cosmetics, tools, furniture, toys, fixtures, crockery and electronics having worth of Rs856 million which included expired cosmetics amounting to Rs60 million.

It is worth mentioning that this has been the biggest seizure in the history of Directorate. Enforcement Branch of the Directorate, on the other hand has framed contravention against evasion of 4.8 million duty/taxes involving CIF value of Rs11.8 million during October 2022.

The Directorate through its administrative actions has improved the monitoring of its functional jurisdictions to safeguard any leakage of legitimate government revenue by taking prompt actions against the evasion of duty/taxes leviable.