Staff Reporter :
Customs seized smuggled goods worth Rs. 300 M near Pak-Afghan border
Pakistan Customs foiled a major smuggling bid by seizing goods worth Rs. 300 million near the Pak-Afghan border Sar Lat on Monday. The raid was conducted with the support of Frontier Corps (FC) in the mountains of Sarlat, sources in Balochistan Customs directorate told the daily Quetta Voice.
The seized goods include betel nuts, cigarettes and other items. The smugglers were planning to shift the things to various parts of the country, when, a joint raid of customs and FC was conducted, they said.
Value of betel nutsÂ
The value of the recovered betel nuts in the open market is estimated to be of Rs. 270 million, they said. The market for the betel nuts is Karachi, the country’s largest city in terms of population.
The raid was conducted on the directives of the federal government and chief collector customs Balochistan to foil smuggling bids in the province. Additional Collector Yasir Kalor, Deputy Collector Akbar Jan and others were part of the raiding party that foiled the smuggling bid.
The smugglers were trying to shift betel nuts and cigarettes through motorcycles to different parts of Noshki district for further smuggling into the country when the raid was conducted, they stated. However, no arrest was made during the action.
Customs seized smuggled goods worth Rs. 300 M near Pak-Afghan border
Customs and FC have stepped up efforts and foiled major smuggling bids in recent raids in various parts of northern Balochistan. As per the statistics shared by the Balochistan Customs Directorate during the last 8 months over 10,00000 kgs of betel nuts have been recovered in different raids.
SarlatÂ
Sarlat is considered to be one of the sensitive areas near the Afghan border. It is a mountainous area and the smugglers use various unfrequented routes to sneak into Pakistan. Customs sought the support of FC to conduct the raid owing to the difficult terrain.
