KARACHI: The Directorate of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) has put ‘hold’ on 22 containers of NATO/ISAF reverse cargo, which will be physically examined on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 to ascertain whether they contained the declared cargo or not.
Director ATT Wajid Ali had this information regarding possible pilferage of the cargo off these containers. The 22 containers laden on 11 vehicles are coming via Torkham route. These containers have been declared to have generators.
Moreover, MCC Preventive has also kept a strict vigil on the movement of cargo. Additional Collector Feroz junejo and Assistant Collector Raza Naqvi have ‘hold’ seven containers of NATO-ISAF cargo coming via Quetta-Chamman route. This action was taken on the directives of Collector Preventive Tariq Huda who had this information that these 7 containers were suspicious.
Meanwhile, the Director General of Intelligence & Investigation led by Lutfullah Virk has kept a strict monitoring of the NATO-ISAF reverse cargo as Directorate as evidence has been found that the NATO/ISAF reverse cargo containers housed goods other than the goods declared in documents.
It has transpired that the Goods Declarations of such cargo claim the goods to be kitchen scrap or other useless material, but the consignments actually contain different things. It has been established that gross mis-declaration is being carried out in ISAF/NATO reverse cargo.
It may be mentioned here that there is no examination of ISAF consignments and authorities have to rely on the Goods Declaration.
It may be recalled that 12 containers declared to be filled with hazmat waste were found to be filled with cement blocks and wooden pallets in Germany. These were shipped from Port Qasim. Moreover, 8 more containers examined at Port Qasim by DG I&I were also found to be filled with cement blocks.
Sources said that the involvement of officials at border collectorates cannot be ruled out.
Sources said that a pattern similar to the pilferage of Transshipment (TP) cargo has been identified where that the Goods Declaration (GD) of the reverse cargo contain kitchen scrap or other useless goods, but the containers are filled with different goods including hazmat waste and chemicals etc.
These containers are pilfered enroute to the exporting port and the actual goods inside the containers are replaced with the scrap as mentioned in GD.
The companies which are carrying out NATO-ISAF cargo via MCC Port Qasim include M/s Global Trans Logistics, M/s Security Packers and M/s Port Connection.