Customs seizes 75 smuggled falcons, houbara bustards

The Anti-Smuggling Organisation of the Pakistan Customs has seized 75 birds of endangered species worth millions of rupees.

Qamar Thalho, a spokesman for the customs, said on Saturday the Anti-Smuggling Organisation conducted two search operations in the Defence neighbourhood and seized a large number of exotic birds declared endangered species under the International Convention on Illegal Trade on Endangered Species.

The raids were conducted after a tip-off was received that unscrupulous persons involved in the illegal trade of smuggled birds at a residential property, and the birds were also being exported illegally to foreign countries. In view of the significance of the information, clandestine surveillance was mounted, which confirmed this information.

Based on this initial spadework, an operation was conceived under which two teams headed by senior officers were constituted to conduct search operations in late hours. The search operations resulted in the recovery of 75 falcons and houbara bustards.

The value of these birds in international market is over Rs200 million. An FIR has been lodged and an investigation is underway.

Pakistan is signatory to various international conventions regarding the protection of wildlife. The seized birds are protected under the local law and the International Convention on Illegal Trade on Endangered Species.

The Pakistan Customs has planned to release these birds to their natural habitat after the completion of due legal formalities. The civil society will also be invited to participate in this rehabilitation exercise.

Man shot dead

A man was killed in a firing incident in Gulshan-e-Maymar’s Bihar Goth.

He was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities where he was identified as 25-year-old Shahid Khan, son of Saeed.

The Gulshan-e-Maymar police said the man was standing outside his house when unidentified persons shot him twice and he died on the spot. The police had found two empty shells of a 30-bore pistol from the crime scene. The police suspected that the incident apparently took place over a monetary dispute.

Man found dead

The body of a man was found near Jama Cloth Market on MA Jinnah Road. The body was taken to the Civil Hospital and then kept at a morgue for want of identification.