PESHAWAR. Customs clearing agents have been arrested for facilitating clearance of illegal consignments worth millions at Peshawar Dry Port.
The names of Customs Clearing agents and sub agent were mentioned in inquiry conducted at Customs House Peshawar after the scam was detected by customs department in which deputy collector Athar Naveed was also accused, sources at Customs House Peshawar revealed.
Asif Ali of M/S Ittehad Customs Agency, Peshawar and Proprietor of M/S A.Q Customs Clearing Agency, Peshawar Muhammad Asim also found involved in corruption of clearing 88 illegal consignments at Dry Port Peshawar.
The accused being customs agents deliberately did not inform the customs authorities regarding the illegal extension of LC. They in connivance with each other and accused customs officials and importers cleared and proceeded 88 illegal consignments.
During investigations of mega corruption at Dry Port Peshawar, it was also revealed that customs clearing agents involved in the clearance of restricted bound consignments of M/s Jan Builder based at Karachi were also arrested by National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The Customs Clearing agents along with importers and customs officials posed loss of above Rs 918 million from 2015 to 2017 in which big names were also accused by inquiry carried out by customs department.
Deputy Collector Athar Naveed has been accused for keeping blind eye on illegal activities carried out at Peshawar Dry Port Peshawar. Earlier the Deputy Collector got stay order against leaving his post until full investigation is conducted. So the deputy collector during the investigation performed his duties at different positions.
The investigation conducted by NAB also revealed that unconditional favor is given to few importers while strict rules are applied to clear consignments of other importers.
The Dry Port Peshawar where goods are imported through various channels for further distribution. The clearance of illegal not only posed loss of millions but also disheartened genuine importers at Peshawar.
The importers at Peshawar wanted the NAB to conduct the investigation in order to catch the culprits involved in the mega scam of corruption at Dry Port Peshawar which increased the worries of importers regarding their consignments.
The Peshawar based importers informed that due to corrupt practices illegal consignments are cleared while genuine importers have to wait for days and weeks to get their legal consignments cleared.
The importers demanded prompt action against the customs officials accused by the NAB investigations and also demanded to cancel the license of those customs agents involved in the fraud of clearing illegal consignments at Dry Port Peshawar.
