LAHORE: The Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO) has intensified anti-smuggling and anti-narcotics operations under its limits in accordance with vision of Collector of Customs Preventive Zulfikar Ali Chaudhary.
These views were expressed by ASO Superintendent Nasir Minhas while explaining measure taken by the ASO Lahore in order to curtail smuggling in and around Lahore.
He said that under the dynamic leadership of Deputy Collector Moazzam Raza a number of successful operations were conducted against the smugglers and drug runners due to which the department has been able to create deterrence.
He that the ASO has also been reorganized and the officers who are working honestly of the purpose throughout his career, have been deployed in the organization.
He said that due to the far reaching measure taken by the Collector of Customs Zulfiqar Ali Chaudhary the ASO have been able to register more than the double of the cases of non-customs paid vehicles and illegally imported goods and articles.
These measures enabled the ASO to effectively cope with the elements involved in the smuggling of different kinds of high valued goods and articles and it is quite evident from the recent performance of ASO, he said stating that the ASO staff has seized goods/vehicles worth over Rs140million during the period from March to May, 2017.
The ASO staff has focused on the interception of smuggled and non-duty paid luxury vehicles and during said period successfully impounded and seized/detained 30 vehicles having value more than Rs40 million.
During the period from March to May, 2017 the staff has made out remarkable cases. During the month of March, the ASO staff raided the godown of M/s Qadri Hajvery Goods Forwarding Agency, Railways Godowns, Badami Bagh, Lahore and seized huge quantity of foreign origin cigarettes valuing Rs10 million, he highlighted informing adding that, the ASO mobile squads had seized 560 mobiles of Samsung brands valuing Rs8.4 million during the month of April, on 15.4.2017, lodging FIR against the culprits.
The ASO staff raided the premises of Ghulab Khan, Rahim Shah and Muhammad Afzal, and recovered huge quantity of smuggled/non duty paid split inverter air conditioners and washing machines of LG brand valuing Rs9 million registering a criminal case against the accused persons during the month of May.
Similarly, ASO staff had recovered foreign origin curtain cloth having weight 6555 kilograms from M/s Pak Afreed Goods Transport Ada, Sheikhupura valuing Rs.4 million during the month of May, the superintendent concluded as saying.
