Syed Ali Shah:
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QUETTA: Customs Balochistan launched a crackdown against sugar and fertilizers smugglers after Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif took a notice of the artificial rise in the prices of sugar.
Customs Balochistan claimed to have seized sugar worth Rs.25 crores in different raids conducted near Pak-Iran and Afghan borders.
Nose tightened around sugar smugglers: Collector Customs Balochistan
“We have tightened nose around the sugar smugglers”, Chief Collector Customs Balochistan, Muhammad Saleem told a news conference on Tuesday at his office.
The videos of trucks loaded with sugar and urea fertilizers in Balochistan’s Kharan district prompted the federal government to order a crackdown against sugar smugglers. In a video widely shared on social media, a long queue of trucks loaded with sugar is seen.
FC extends full support to Customs: Saleem
In this regard, the operation was started in full cooperation with other law enforcement agencies on the border, Muhammad Saleem mentioned.
Under this, a series of joint operations, joint check posts and joint patrols were adopted, he added.
As a result of which the largest operation in the history of the province in the last few days, the customs, FC, and levies have been conducted for four days.
Saleem stated that professional smugglers adopted various tactics against the customs. Cars were stuck in the sand and law enforcers faced difficulties, he informed.
Despite odds, customs managed to seize trucks
But despite this, customs and other institutions took all the goods and vehicles to a safe place with great difficulty. The said 37200 parcels of sugar and fertilizer which were loaded in 45 trucks were recovered.
Sugar worth Rs 90 lakh and fertilizer worth Rs 30 lakh were exported. Apart from this, 59 cases of sugar and 3 cases of fertilizer were registered during the two weeks of April.
The collector vowed that crackdown against sugar and fertilizers smugglers would continue.
