LAHORE: Collector of Customs Preventive Dr Zulfiqar Younas has said that main emphasis of the collectorate is on conducting organized anti-smuggling operation against the large scale smuggling operatives to create deterrance .
He expressed these views while talking to Customs Today here in his office. He informed that anti-smuggling organization of the collectorate has been directed to go for the big fish and seizes gowdowns of illegally imported goods and articles instead of installing pickets on the roads and intercept general public.
“On the whole, Anti-Smuggling Organization has improved its performance by 20 percent as compared to the same period of the last financial year, however, the ASO staff has been instructed to do more,” he told Customs Today.
The collectoarte has focused to uproot the mega smuggling activities in and around the city, he said adding, that when the large scale smuggling activities are controlled small will automatically be eliminated. He informed that in this regard a comprehensive strategy has been evolved which would hopefully produce good results.
He maintained as a part of the strategy Central Region Chief Collector of Customs Samaira Nazir and Director General Intelligence and Investigations Saud Imran held detailed meeting with the IG Punjab who assured his full support and assistance to senior customs officials to curb smuggling .
The collector said that usually when organized smuggling gangs are traced and chased a strong backlash is also expected from the criminals’ side and customs authorities would be in better position to tackle the counter attack with the help of police personals.
The Punjab police will also help the customs authorities in identify the areas where associations of traders and businessmen aggressively back the smugglers and resort to protect the criminal elements among them, he stated.
He also informed that the collectorate has also programmed to train the customs field forces including inspectors and spoyes on weapon handling and firing so that they could efficiently cope with any repercussion from the smugglers.
In this regard IG Punjab has also assured to train customs field forces at the police training institute and certainly the exercise will enable the customs forces to tackle smugglers professionally and proficiently.
Further the collector informed that he had met Punjab Information Technology Chairman Umar Saif and he was agreed to develop anti-smuggling software.
“The software which is smartphone and tablet based will enable us to monitor our scouts a in the field,” Younas said, adding that the software will have the access to smugglers data, WeBOC and PRAL systems.
In the results of such measures, overall effectiveness of the collectorate’s anti-smuggling operation will be far better, he concluded.
