KARACHI: The Directorate General of Transit Trade has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) pertaining to 21 containers of US Army reverse cargo, which were found empty in the country and the drivers of 11 vehicles have also been arrested.
Director General Transit Trade Khawar Fareed Manika and Director Wajid Ali have directed the investigation team, which is working under the supervision of Deputy Director Shoaib Raza, to expeditiously complete the investigations and arrest the main culprits behind this pilferage crime.
Sources in the department claimed that the arrested drivers including Sarfaraz Khan, Mujahid, Gul Wali, Shah Khalid, Behram Khan, Niamat Wali, Tariq, Maro, Shehzad Gul, Dildar Khan and Bashir Khan were presented in the court. The Court granted judicial remand of the accused persons.
The vehicles worth millions of rupees have also been impounded which would not be returned, they further claimed.
The seized vehicles include TLK- 710, BLN -1772, K-7839, E-4408, TLA-157, C-1390, TLA-051, P-4121, TLP-361, TLR-235 and TLP-854.
The FIR has nominated Raza ur Rehman S/o Munawar Hussain, Malik Ali Asghar S/o Muhammad Khan, Romail Ahmed Dar S/o Muhammad Nazir Dar, all Directors of M/s. Port Connection (Pvt) Ltd., (Bonded Carrier); Owners/Directors of M/s. Peerzada Service International, Clearing Forwarding & Shipping Agent; Owners/Directors of M/s Ghani’s International; Owners/Directors of M/s. Multitrans Logistics (Pvt) Ltd. and above mentioned drivers as accused.
Investigation sources told Custom Today that drivers were being investigated and some of them had revealed that they were allowed three days leave so that they could visit their families in Peshawar. The vehicles were parked at some yards and private security guards were deployed there.
The authorities are investigating to identify the security company who deployed the guards, sources said that this is very crucial and would definitely expose the actual culprits involved in this crime.
It is also being investigated that who made payments to the drivers of the vehicles as well as the broker who arranged these vehicles.
The CGO-10 says that the bonded carrier, clearing agent and the focal person are fully responsible for the scam. There is a flaw in the CGO, which protects the actual culprits, an official said.
According to details M/s Ghani’s International, an authorized representative of Consulate General of the United States of America, sought clearance of 22 containers (20-ft) of US Army reverse cargo declared to contain generator power with transformer and equipment for transit to Karachi Port for export to Dubai.
These containers were inspected and seal verification was made at Torkham. It was noted that the scanning images of the consignment and weight slips of the GDs was not as per the description declared in the invoice and packing list. Sources said there also was marginable difference between the scanning images of containers taken at Torkham and Karachi Port as well as the weight done at Torkham and Karachi Port.
The containers were examined physically in the presence of representatives of related parties but the generating sets declared in invoice and packing list were not found in the containers. This established that generating sets were removed from the containers.
The carrier of the container from Torkham to Karachi Port is M/s. Port Connection Pvt Ltd., Customs Bonded Carrier. The Consulate General of United States of America had authorized M/s. Multitrans Logistics (Pvt) Ltd. and M/s. Ghani’s International, Customs Clearing Agency to take delivery, handling and clearance of the consignment.
Sources said that the total value of the goods pilfered off the US Army reverse cargo stood at Rs 341.413 million and the duty/taxes involved on the pilfered goods comes at Rs 145.52 million. This is the biggest case of pilferage of US Army transit cargo in terms of the value and volume of the goods.
