KARACHI: Chief Collector Enforcement South has replaced the entire Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO) team of MCC Preventive Karachi, which the officials term a serious blow to the anti-smuggling drive of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
ASO Preventive’s removed team had been quite efficient and made record cases. However, the team members were transferred, which resulted in a complete halt to the anti-smuggling activities of MCC Preventive. In the last three months, ASO Preventive Karachi has not made a single case.
The newly posted ASO Preventive team led by Superintendent Preventive Service Abdul Jabbar Khan Niaizi would directly report to Chief Collector Saifuddin Junejo, which effectively eliminates the role of Collector and Additional Collector Preventive.
It was known that Collector Saquif Saeed and Additional Collector Haroon Malik are not regularly coming to their offices, while the ASO staff is focused on facilitating illegitimate trade.
In past, Collector Preventive himself was supervising the ASO team, which resulted in record breaking achievements.
All the members of new ASO team posted at MCC Preventive Karachi are known to have connections with the smugglers and illegitimate traders.
An official said with the Eid Season coming over, smuggled goods needed to reach the markets, and the markets have already started flooding with smuggled goods.
Sources said the smugglers and traders dealing in smuggled goods had grown quite powerful that even the Chairman FBR Javed Ghani could not control them.
These smugglers mostly belonging to KPK have their connections and relatives in parliament and senate, and they managed to remove certain checks on the movement of smuggled goods such as scanning and examination of consignments, tracking and stamping of transit cargo etc.
It seems the smugglers have been given a free pass across the country. Smuggled goods are now openly being supplied to the markets, while it is learnt that for Rs1.5 million bribe, one container load of smuggled goods will be delivered anywhere in the country without any hurdles.
Chief Collector Enforcement Saifuddin Junejo is retiring in June and sources said he is trying to make his last months ‘memorable’.
Sources said the new ASO team is having a long party drinking and rejoicing at the office premises every evening.
On the other hand, the Courts and Tribunals are also facilitating smugglers and traders.
The newly posted ASO Preventive Karachi team included IPS M. Abdul Khaliq, Muhammad Ejaz, M. Zubair Siddiqui, Azhar Malik, Muhammad Farooq-I; SPOs Izhar Murtaza, M. Salim Qureshi F.A., Tayyab Khan, Malik Safdar Ali; POs Hassan Sardar, Mohd. Ali Karim, Syed Burhanudin, Mushtaq Ahmed, Muhammad Khalid, Imran Maqsood, S. Ali Asjad Bukhari, S. Naveed Hussain Shah, Masood Ahmed, Mohsin Shahzad, Adnan Ali Khan, M. Usama Munim, Muhammad Hanif, Toaseef Ahmed and Qurat ul Ain.