FIA foils smuggling bid of drug in rice bags

By Our Correspondent

July 20, 2020

A campaign has been launched by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Sindh-I against hawala operators, smugglers, money launderers and other criminals.

A spokesman for the FIA Sindh said that the FIA’s Corporate Crime Circle Karachi raiding team conducted a raid on credible information that a psychotropic substance, ketamine HCl, was being exported from Karachi to Antwerp, Belgium, under the guise of rice export.

The raid was conducted in the Hussainabad area in the presence of federal inspector of drugs. A truck no.TK-684 carrying a 20-foot container was intercepted in Hussainabad, containing 18 metric tons of rice. The search of the container by the FIA & FID (Drap) resulted in the recovery of 170 one-kilogramme packets of suspected Ketamine HCl which was tactfully concealed in rice bags.

The Custom documents of consignment of rice i.e E-Form, invoice, GD, loading program of shipping line were already prepared by the accused persons in the name of the company, M/s Tedik Trading Co, Sialkot. The documents were to be entered in Weebok after reaching the container at the port.

The rough value of the recovered Ketamine Hcl is more than $3,000 per kilogramme and the total value of the seized substance has been estimated at $510,000. The suspect, Dawoodur Rehman, was present on the spot during the raid. Upon interrogation, he disclosed that the said consignment of ketamine HCL was being exported to Antwerp, Belgium.

Accordingly, an FIR No.18/2020 was registered at the FIA, Corporate Crime Circle, Karachi against Dawoodur Rehman, absconder Hifzur Rehman and others under the Customs Act 1969 read with the section 109 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Since, the Customs Act, 1969 is a predicate offence of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Act, 2010, therefore, a widespread money laundering investigation shall also be initiated after identification and tracing of the proceeds of crimes.

The government of Belgium will also be approached to identify probable beneficiaries of ketamine HCl. Further investigations are under way.