Customs Anti-Smuggling Squad seizes 8kg marijuana

Personnel of the Pakistan Customs Anti-Smuggling Organisation (ASO) have seized eight kilogrammes of marijuana worth tens of millions of rupees in two different operations.

Syed Irfan Ali, a spokesman for the Customs, said that on the basis of a tip-off received by Customs Karachi Enforcement Collector Basit Maqsood Abbasi, successful operation were carried out under the supervision of Anti-Smuggling Squad Deputy Collector Syed Mohammad Raza Naqvi.

In the first operation, the staff deployed at the Customs Mochko check post signalled a suspicious truck coming from Balochistan to stop but the suspect in the vehicle tried to escape.

However, the Customs personnel successfully intercepted the truck. During the search, they recovered three kilogrammes of marijuana worth Rs6.5 million inside the vehicle. One suspect was arrested in the operation and the vehicle worth Rs25 million impounded.

A case has been registered under the Customs Act. The suspect was later remanded by a competent court and investigations are under way. In the second operation, Customs officials seized marijuana weighing five kilogrammes worth Rs9.7 million from secret boxes built inside a bus, JG-5645, coming from Balochistan.

A suspect was arrested and the bus impounded. In the last week, the Customs Collectorate Enforcement's Anti-Smuggling Squad seized various smuggled items worth Rs200 million.