Customs seizes 32kg hashish

Officials of the Pakistan Customs Intelligence have foiled a bid to smuggle contraband goods worth millions of rupees.

Syed Irfan Ali, spokesman for the customs, said that acting on directions from Abdul Rasheed Shaikh, director general, Intelligence & Investigation (Customs), to curb the smuggling of contraband goods, Director Dr Sadiqullah Khan of the Directorate of Intelligence & Investigation (Customs), Hyderabad, instructed the heads of the Anti-Smuggling Organisation Wing to keep an eye on the movement of contraband goods and narcotics.

Pursuing a reliable tip-off that hashish would be transported from Tando Adam to Hyderabad and Karachi in wooden boxes containing guavas on a white Toyota Hiace van (without registration), a team undertook surveillance on the Karachi-Hyderabad highway. One of staff members spotted the van and signalled its driver to stop. The driver pulled over but escaped, leaving the vehicle behind. A search resulted in the discovery of 32 slabs of hashish weighing 32 kilograms and estimated to be worth Rs3.2 million.