KARACHI: Customs Adjudication has served Show Cause Notice on Afghan based importer M/s Yamaar Ahmadzai for attempting to transport mobile phones to Afghanistan for their onward smuggling back into Pakistan.
Earlier in September 2017, Directorate of Transit Trade framed contravention cases of mobile phones imported by Afghan based importers for transit to Afghanistan via Karachi.
During scrutiny of Goods declaration, it was found that PCT heading of Mobile Phones was declared as 8517.1290 contrary to actual PCT 8517.1210. Therefore, Director Transit Trade Wasif Memon assigned Additional Director Rana Tasleem to look into the matter. Rana Tasleem’s team comprising Principal Appraiser Javed Akhtar, Appraising Officers Amjad Khan, Aftab Iqbal assessed the consignments and referred the same for detailed examination to Deputy Directors Wahaj Sagheer and Kamran Ali Rana Examining Officers Junaid Ahmed, Nafees Qureshi and Nawab Tauqeer.
It was found that the packages of Qmobile phones contained self-adhesive stickers bearing Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) approval, serial number and year of manufacturing with IMEI numbers printed on boxes. Moreover, the literature/ catalogues found inside the packages were also showing addresses of Customer Service Canters of Pakistan. Therefore, these consignments of Mobile Phone prima facie did not qualify for transit to Afghanistan. Accordingly, contraventions were framed.
Customs Adjudication subsequently served show cause notice on the importer M/s Yamaar Ahmadzai and the clearing agent M/s Zaland Enterprises.
The self-adhesive stickers bearing Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) approval, serial number and year of manufacturing with IMEI numbers printed on boxes. Moreover, the literature/catalogues found inside the packages showing addresses of Customer Service Canters of Pakistan confirms that these mobile phones were to be smuggled back into the country.
This incident confirms that smuggling was growing at a fast pace. A large number of containers of mobile phones are being cleared from Directorate of Transit Trade and transported to Afghanistan and then these goods find their way back to Pakistan under the alleged patronage of Mushtaq Sarghana who is the right hand man of Director General Intelligence & Investigation Shaukat Ali.
Sources said all the transfers and postings in the Directorate General of Customs Intelligence & Investigation are made on the recommendations of Mushtaq Sarghana. It was known that the entire smuggling comprises of the field officers while the officers have been sidelined by the Director General through various tactics.