Bid to smuggle US dollars foiled at Torkham border

LANDIKOTAL: Pakistan Customs has started a crackdown at Torkham border and foiled three different bids to smuggle foreign currency to Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said.

Moeenuddin Ahmad Wani, Customs Collector Enforcement Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told a press conference at Torkham border that in the past six months, they had recovered 0.4 million US dollars at Torkham border and Bacha Khan International Airport. He said that during the last six months, they had foiled 36 bids of currency smuggling. Wani said the Customs authorities had seized 8000 US dollars and 10,000 Saudi riyals at Torkham border on Wednesday. He said modern equipment had been installed at the entry and exit points to detect contrabands at the border.

He said that due to the fragile economic condition of Pakistan, Customs authorities had widened its vigilance and increased staff on the border points and at Bacha Khan Airport to strictly keep a watch on currency smuggling. He said that for the first time, women lady searchers had been deployed at Torkham border to search for women passengers.

“In most of the currency seizures, smugglers had used disabled persons, children and women among the passengers to transport currency into Afghanistan from Pakistan,” Wani claimed. He said Pakistan Customs staff was committed to discouraging smuggling from and into Pakistan.

He said modern scanners had been installed to detect contrabands, especially currency, at Torkham border crossing, adding that billions of rupees’ worth of other banned items had also been confiscated at Torkham border in the past six months.

Additional Collector Customs Zakir Khan and other staff members were also present on the occasion.