KARACHI: The Directorate of Intelligence & Investigation-FBR, Quetta has come hard on smuggling and seized goods worth Rs28.13 million along with vehicles used for smuggling worth Rs17.1 million in six different incidents during the first week of March 2015.
Had these goods went undetected; the exchequer would have been deprived of Rs11.442 million of its legitimate revenue.
The goods seized include black tea, motor oil, base oil, gutka, assorted cigarettes, assorted tyres, ladies cloth and LED TVs. All the six cases are under adjudication.
All these six seizures were made in one day i.e. March 06, 2015 and Deputy Director Inamullah Wazir is supervising the campaign against anti-smuggling.
It may be mentioned here that Director General I&I Customs and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) nominated focal person (ASO) Lutfullah Virk at a recent anti-smuggling strategy meeting at Custom House Karachi had tasked Inam Wazir to streamline the affairs.
The meeting finalized an information sharing and coordination methodology among collectorates and directorates regarding the crackdown against smuggling.
Meanwhile, Collector MCC Quetta Zahoor Akhtar Raja has been transferred to the office of Directorate of IPR Enforcement North Islamabad. Sources said that, he was transferred on the recommendations of Lutfullah Virk.
It has been identified that a large number of goods including edibles (black pepper, cumin seed, almonds, palm oil, cumin seeds, chick peas, peanuts, cashew nuts etc.), auto parts, tiles and electronics etc of different origins such as India, Vietnam, Iran, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, China and Guatemala are being cleared from Quetta dry port. All these goods attract high rate of duty.
These goods are originally smuggled from Iran and Afghanistan. The smugglers in order to provide legal cover to these smuggled products get the same cleared from MCC Quetta through under-declaration of weight and mis-declaration. Hence the exchequer is suffering a huge loss.
It has been identified that unscrupulous elements are running this business since long and duty/tax to the tune of billions of rupees is being evaded through under-declaration of weight. These elements have very-well established links and deliver the smuggled/imported goods to their buyers on ‘done basis’ against the payment of just 50 percent of the leviable duty/tax.
It has been known that the ring is operating under the patronage of MCC Quetta. It was also known that several consignments are cleared on just one Goods Declaration (GD) through manipulation of the documents.
These consignments cleared from MCC Quetta are then delivered throughout the country at the doorsteps of the buyers. It has been known that GDs processed the Collectorate are much less than the actual number of consignments being released from the Collectorate.
Since, the Coast Guards and FC are not aware of the Customs tariff and procedures, therefore they cannot identify the defaulter consignments. These border security personnel let the consignments through on the documentation provided by MCC Quetta.
Sources said that it was direly needed that Customs officials should be deployed at security check-posts of Coast Guards and FC to keep vigil on movement of goods through fabricated official documents.
sources said that the campaign against smuggling is in full swing and a large number of cases are likely to be registered going forward.