MULTAN: Under the supervision of Collector Imran Sajjad Bokhari, Collectorate of Customs seized smuggled goods and vehicles worth Rs6.52 million in first fifteen days of December.
Addressing a press conference, Collector Imran Sajjad Bukhari has said that customs’ enforcement team in coordination with law enforcement agencies (LEAs) was instrumental in reducing smuggling to a great extent adding that two Afghan nationals were arrested with smuggled items worth Rs 23 million and the operations during the last fortnight led to the bulk of smuggled items worth Rs 107.8 million yielding subsequent revenue collection of Rs 6.52 million.
Customs teams have observed smuggled goods volume a lot less than what they used to witness during operations against smugglers at their godowns in the past, said Multan’s top customs official. While Additional Collector Shah Faisal, Deputy Collector Maryam Jameela and Assistant Collector Habib-ur- Rehman were also present.
The smuggled goods were seized in 49 operations during first two weeks of December and included 10 million, 1300 kgs of Betel Nuts worth Rs 2 million, 8000 litres of POL products worth Rs 2.3 million, 6000 outers of cigarettes worth Rs 18.3 million, 25 flagship models of mobile phones worth Rs 17.12 million, and 480 miscellaneous items worth Rs 22.83 million. These items were auctioned and generated revenue worth Rs 6.52 million, Bukhari said.
He said that Customs Multan has stepped up operations against smuggling in line with instructions from the Federal government and under orders from Member Customs (Operations) Dr. Fareed Iqbal Qureshi, and Chief Collector of Customs Enforcement Punjab Mirza Mubashir Baig.
With the cooperation from other LEAs, customs Multan arrested two Afghan nationals while they were transporting two truckloads of smuggled goods. The accused have been sent to judicial remand.
He warned transporters associations and goods transportation businesses to carry with them the necessary documents while transporting imported items or else be ready to face the law of the land.
In addition to anti-smuggling operations, customs Multan has also set up a facilitation and training cell at the customs house as an extra layer of facilitation to make people aware, to train them and encourage them to do lawful business. To a question, he said, they have requested the high ups to set up a customs court in Multan to speed up trial of the smugglers adding that they have suggested that some Additional District and Sessions Judge be given the responsibility.
