PESHAWAR: The Torkham Customs’ officials claimed to have foiled an attempt to smuggle around 80 tons of fertiliser to Afghanistan in the guise of belongings of the Afghan families returning to Afghanistan. The officials also impounded two vehicles being used for smuggling the fertiliser.
Talking to Customs Today, Torkham Custom Superintendent Naeem Khan said that the custom officials in routine duty stopped two Afghanistan bound trailers bearing Registration Nos KBL-45255 and KBL-57476 respectively loaded with luggage of the Afghan families, who were returning to their homeland under the voluntary repatriation programme in a bid to send Afghan refugees back to their homeland.
During the search of both the vehicles, the customs officials claimed to have recovered 40 tons of fertilizer loaded onto each vehicle. The recovered fertiliser has been concealed under the commodities of the repatriating Afghan families.
The customs officials confiscated the items, besides impounding both the vehicles under the Customs Act, 1969. A driver whose identification could not be ascertained yet was arrested in the smuggling attempt, while there was no information about the other driver.
The trailers had crossed all the Khasadar force checkpoints; however, the Khasadar subedar said that they were not allowed to check the vehicle in Torkham, which are carrying belongings of the repatriating Afghan families.
It is to be mentioned here that that fertiliser is one of the contraband items that has been declared ban for export to Afghanistan. The officials informed smuggling through Afghan border will be controlled at maximum by adopting effective strategies, adding that scanners and other international standard machinery were being installed at the border to strict the vigilance.
