LAHORE: Customs Preventive Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO) seized 150 illegally imported LEDs from a Mazda van near Daroghwala.
Sources told Customs Today that on the information of Collector of Customs Zulfiqar Younas, the anti-smuggling squad, under the supervision of Assistant Collector Dr Adnan Khan, intercepted the van and recovered 150 LEDs of assorted types worth over Rs 100,000.
Sources said that the LEDs were to be supplied to Vehari from Lahore when the Mazada was held by the customs authorities near Daroghwala. The sources said that the LEDs were containing all sizes, including 20, 24, 32, 26 inches.
The sources said that the accused party was of the view that they purchased these LEDs from various places in Lahore and finally were transporting to Vehari to a party that placed order. It was stated that the LEDs were not containing brand names that made the doubts cleared that the LEDs were to be engraved later on.
The sources said that the LEDs legal import is disallowed in the country in order to protect the production and business of the indigenous companies. A number of local companies are legally manufacturing the LEDs in the country.
It was reported that the seized LEDs were smuggled into the country and it was beyond that the LEDs were cleared from any port in the country. The scout that impounded the LEDs was consisting on Inspector Abdur Rehman Butt, Ch Aslam hawaldar, Muhamma Tufail, Muhammad Asim, Malik Muhammad Shafiq and others. The scout was working under Superintendent Munawar Khan and Deputy Superintendent Salim Akhtar.
The sources said that the customs authorities impounding the LEDs also have initiated further investigations in order to the first seizure of financial year 2016-17 to reach the ringleaders of the smugglers.