Huge quantity of smuggled goods seized

LAHORE:Anti-Smuggling Organisation (ASO) of Intelligence & Investigation (I&I) Customs, Regional Office, Lahore and Range Office Gujranwala recovered mammoth quantity of smuggled/non-duty paid goods valuing approximately Rs216 million by conducting a successful raid at Saggian Bypass on a tip-off on Thursday.

The seized goods include cigarettes, chewable tobacco, betel nuts (Areca nut), tyres, fabric, glass ware, skimmed milk, dry fruits and hosiery. Director I&I Customs Ms Saima Shahzad stated that on the directives of DG I&I Customs Faiz Ahmad Chadhar, enormous quantity of smuggled goods has been seized from smuggling mafia.

Furthermore, attempts to transport colossal quantities of foreign origin contraband as well as non-duty paid goods to provincial capital in a clandestine manner were successfully foiled during successful operations.

Anti-smuggling team led by Additional Director Customs Ch Rizwan Bashir Kalair and supervised by Deputy Director Ali Asad conducted the intelligence based operations and shifted the impugned smuggled goods to the warehouses of I&I Customs.

The sources further revealed that in order to ensure safe transportation to the local market and to defraud the customs’ en-route checking mechanism, in some cases, smugglers were found re-packing the smuggled goods to make them look alike exactly as per the guidelines of other imported consignments.

The smugglers have adopted a unique modus operandi by further transporting the smuggled goods through auto rickshaws to hoodwink the detecting agencies. The majority of recovered products are hazardous to health and the criminal proceedings have been initiated against accused persons after lodging of FIRs and investigation is underway, the sources added.