Customs seizes 10,000 smuggled mobile phones worth Rs30m

The Anti-Smuggling Organisation (ASO) of Customs Enforcement Karachi on Thursday seized a consignment of smuggled goods, including 10,000 mobile phones worth crores of rupees.

According to Syed Irfan Ali, a spokesperson for the Customs, Collector Customs Enforcement Karachi, Moinuddin Wani received intelligence that a company, AB Memon & Sons, had smuggled mobile phones disguised as car coolant.

The consignment had been cleared through customs at the West Wharf Road under a Goods Declaration (GD) for car coolant and was being transported from the Bay West Off Dock Terminal to the importer's warehouse via a Mazda truck.

Acting on this information, Wani directed Deputy Collector ASO Syed Muhammad Raza Naqvi to seize the consignment. A raiding team intercepted the truck on the ICI Bridge, West Wharf Road, and impounded it.

Upon inspection, the cartons labelled as car coolant were found to contain mobile phones and liquid tobacco flavour. The seized goods were shifted to the ASO warehouse for a detailed inspection, revealing 10,008 mobile phones of 11 different brands and models, valued at Rs30,240,000, along with 15,000 units of liquid tobacco flavour worth Rs30,000,000.

The smuggled items had been confiscated under the relevant provisions of the Customs Act, and a case has been registered against AB Memon & Sons. Further legal action and investigations are ongoing.