KARACHI: ASO Preventive Karachi recovered foreign origin assorted polyester and net cloth and polyester yarn from a warehouse in New Karachi and lodged FIR against several persons.
Information was passed through Collector Saquif Saeed to Additional Collector Haroon Malik that considerable amount of foreign origin assorted polyester and net cloth and polyester yarn had been secreted at a warehouse in New Karachi, and would likely be removed from that premises shortly.
A Customs team headed by Assistant Collector Shafiullah and Superintendent Iftikhar Hasan reached the identified warehouse and conducted the search after fulfilling the formalities.
The search led to recovery of foreign origin assorted polyester and net cloth and polyester yarn. The goods were seized and shifted to state warehouse.
Preliminary investigations revealed that a person namely Asif is owner of the warehouse and one Usman is the owner of the seized goods. It was also known that Abdul Qadir aka Raju and Razzaq are facilitators in this crime.
An FIR is lodged and investigations are underway.
Fabric is a high value goods and its legal import has reduced to very little, and mostly fabric and garments are cleared through mis-declaration in the garb of used clothing. These garments and cloth is then distributed into the markets of the country.
An official said each examination officer had to examine over 20 containers each day, and due to this over burdened, entire container is not examined.
Moreover, several officials were infected with Covid and were in isolation.
Taking advantage of this situation, the importers stuff used clothing at the outer end of the container while there are other high value goods inside.
Last week, Additional Collector Afzal Watto and Muhammad Hubban Appraising Officer recovered new garments etc from a consignment of used clothing.