LAHORE: Collectorate of Customs Preventive seized smuggled goods Rs58 billion in the year ended June 30, 2021.
Collectorate of Customs Preventive Collector Basit Abbasi directed its young officers to adopt zero tolerance policy against smuggling.
During the course of various anti-smuggling operations on roads and at storage places inside and outside city limits of Lahore the Collectorate made seizures of POL products, cloth, cigarettes, auto parts, betel nuts, skimmed milk, welding rods, tires, luxury vehicles etc. worth more than Rs4.2 billion. Crossing the milestone of Rs4 billion is a record in the history of Enforcement Collectorate, Lahore.
Moreover, the Collectorate realized more than Rs530 million from auctions and duty/taxes on disposal of confiscated goods.
The real contribution of the Collectorate towards the national cause was increasing the cost of smuggling and creating deterrence while enhancing the revenue potential from legal trade.
Customs Lahore’s policy of taking the bull by the horn in dealing with the biggest smuggling rackets of the country created a chain reaction which made significant dents to the smuggling and trade in smuggled goods.
The counter smuggling operations against illegal POL outlets also led to an increase in the revenues from legal trade of POL products and similarly for other products the share of legal businesses expanded leading ultimately to national growth.
Similarly, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Lahore led by Director Asad Raza Rizvi and Additional Director Hasan Farid, made 101 cases in FY21 and seized smuggled goods worth Rs5.9 billion.
It is relevant to mention here that the Directorate rendered unremitting and strenuous efforts to intercept the smuggling of contraband goods and vehicles along with evasion of duty and taxes despite the fact, directorate has been facing shortage of human and financial resources.
During the financial year 2020-21, Pakistan Customs, under the leadership of the Member Customs (Operations) Tariq Huda contributed significantly towards revenue collection and devised a strategy for counter smuggling and enforcement.
All the field formations of Customs Enforcement executed the vision with sheer commitment and hard work.
