KARACHI: Chairman FBR, Mr. Asim Ahmad stressed need to beef up country wide operations against smuggling and smuggled goods, at the Directors’ Quarterly Conference convened in the headquarters office of the Directorate General Intelligence & Investigation, Islamabad.
The Director General (I&I) Customs Mr. Faiz Ahmad has devised an anti-smuggling policy aligned with parameters of transparency and zero tolerance for smuggling.
The Lahore Range office of the Directorate General has accordingly aligned it’s available to achieve better results against smuggling.
Accordingly, the Director (I&I), Lahore, Ms. Saima Shahzad, constituted a team under the supervision of Additional Director (ASO), Ch. Rizwan Bashir Kalair, to analyze a tip-off regarding a hideout place of smuggled goods inside a private school premises.
After proper surveillance, a team comprising of officers/officials of the Directorate including Deputy Director (ASO), Ali Asad and Superintendent (ASO), Rai Waqar and led by Additional Director (ASO), Rizwan Bashir raided the godown.
This has led to a huge recovery of foreign origin miscellaneous smuggled goods comprising fabric, shoes, cosmetics, tools, furniture, toys, fixtures, crockery and electronics.
The inventory of the smuggled goods recovered from the godown is worth approximately Rs856 million, out of which cosmetics amounting to Rs60 million have been found expired, which were planned to be sold after changing the tags of expiry. The material for removal of expiry dates and their substitution with new dates was also found in the premises. The owner of the goods is Daud Jan s/o Tehsin Ullah.
It is noteworthy that the aforementioned seizure is the biggest case in the history of Directorate (I&I) Customs, Lahore because of value.
FIR has been lodged by the I&P cell of the Directorate (I&I), Customs Regional Office Lahore, for criminal investigation, and Zain Ullah Khan, General Manager of the godown has been apprehended.