Customs lodges 426 cases during last year

LAHORE : The Anti-Smuggling Wing of Directorate of Intelligence & Investigation Customs, Multan Region has lodged 426 cases of non-duty paid/smuggled goods including, clothes, dry milk, paan chhalia, cigarettes, petroleum products and vehicles etc worth of market value Rs4,458,363,270 during financial year from June 2021 to July 2022.

According to Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation Multan, Assistant Director M Ali Asif, there is zero tolerance for smuggling and smugglers as well. He further shared that Directorate of Intelligence & Investigation (I&I) Customs had seized 15 lakh liters of smuggled petroleum products. Ali Asif shared that that the non-customs duty paid goods had been seized while taking effective measures to curb smuggling across the province.

The Custom Multan official said on the direction of Director Multan, during various anti-smuggling operations and raids, the Directorate had mainly made seizures of foreign origin goods notified under section 2(s) of the Customs Act, 1969 i.e. fabrics, betel nuts, tyres, auto parts, cigarettes, luxury vehicles etc.

The Directorate of Intelligence & Investigation also accelerated the disposal of confiscated goods/vehicles through frequent public auctions from January 2022 to June 2022, said Ali Asif while talking to The News.

Director Custom Intelligence Multan Yasin Murtaza has warned that strict action would be taken against the smugglers who had brought non-customs duty paid goods inside Multan Region. The Assistant Director further informed that operations were being carried out by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation in Multan region including Sadiqabad, Rahimyar Khan, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan etc.

He said that the Custom Department is trying to get the people to bring the goods into the country by paying customs duty instead of smuggling them. This will not only benefit them, but also bring revenue to the department, concluded the assistant director.