KARACHI: Customs Collectorate Exports has detained a consignment of antiques at Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT), at Badruddin, West Wharf.
According to details, owing to the efforts of Collector Saqif Saeed, Additional Collector Shafqat Niazi and Deputy Collector Zehra Tahir Naqvi, several antiques mostly statues of Buddha and Greek kings / queens have been detained at Karachi International Containers Terminal (KICT).
An FIR has also been lodged against M/s Natasha Enterprises and its clearing agent M/s Zaman & Co for attempting to smuggle out antiques including statutes in the garb of Artificial handicraft replicas. The said items were being smuggled to Hong Kong through sea route.
M/s Natasha Enterprises filed Goods Declaration (GD) through their clearing agent M/s S. Zaman & Co for export of the items declared to be Artificial handicraft replicas and was marked for examination by the risk management system in WeBOC.
DC KICT Zehra Tahir Naqvi and Appraising Officer Altaf ur Rehman carried out physical examination to check actual description of the goods.
On suspicion the goods were detained and Department of Archaeology and Culture, National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi was requested to send a team of experts for inspection of the detained goods. During examination the experts of Department of Archeology and Culture confirmed that 16 out of 21 objects are antiques.
The goods including statues of buddha of assorted shapes, sizes and materials have been seized and investigations are under way, whereas, the actual value and age of the seized Antiques is being determined by the Department of Archaeology and Culture, National Museum of Pakistan.
