ISLAMABAD: Directorate of Customs I&I Deputy Director Khaldoon ul Haq has said that each Customs officer of grade 17 and above is required to enhance capacity to curb the menace of smuggling.
Talking with Customs Today during an exclusive interview Deputy Director Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation (I&I), Khaldoon ul Haq said that he spent a long period of 4 and half years here at I&I headquarters Islamabad and learnt a lot of things while working with four courageous Director Generals like Lutfullah Virk, Imtiaz Cheema, Shaukat Ali and Zahid Khokhar.
He said that he worked in all fields relating with Customs Intelligence in coordination among national and international agencies like Anti Narcotics Force (ANF), Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO) and World Customs Organization (WCO). He added that he also worked in field formation of Anti-smuggling as well as used to prepare reports for DGs I&I while he also had a chance to work against Anti-money laundering (AML) activities. He said that he also got chance to work with different embassies working in Pakistan.
Director I&I said that a very special thing about Directorate of I&I is that this intelligence agency not only conducts audits but with powers of enforcement. Customs Act 1969 provides said powers under section 3A which have been defined through different SROs, he added.
Answering a query he said that Directorate of I&I performance was comparatively better during current three quarters against same corresponding period last year. He notified that during July to March FY 2018-19 the I&I made huge seizures against Non Duty Paid (NDP) vehicles, offending (vehicles used for carrying smuggled goods) and other contraband goods worth Rs 12.6 billion while the Directorate seized smuggled goods and NDP vehicles worth Rs 7.8 billion during same corresponding period last FY.
He said that during current FY18-19 the Directorate of I&I Islamabad made huge crackdown against notorious criminals involved in smuggling of narcotics across the country through regional Directorates of I&I. Telling the details of seized narcotics he added that all offices of Directorate seized 256.23 kilograms of charas, 17.51 kilograms of opium, 71.50 kilograms of heroin, 1200,00 kilograms of poppy seed.
The deputy director told that Directorate has registered cases against the smugglers involved in smuggling of narcotics. He said that Directorate of I&I lodged 1488 number of cases during first three quarters against narcotics while 41 suspects were arrested who were found guilty in smuggling as well as Directorate of I&I registered 60 FIRs against the offenders.
