KARACHI: MCC Appraisement East has foiled another attempt to smuggle betel nuts through mis-declaring the goods as turmeric finger.
After introduction of additional health and safety requirements by the Government on import of Betel Nuts, unscrupulous elements are using illicit means to smuggle Betel Nuts in the garb of miscellaneous goods through mis-declaration.
Under the supervision of the Collector Saeed Akram, MCC Appraisement (East) Karachi is endeavoring hard to curb these elements for the safety of general public.
Research & Development (R&D)’s team comprising of Deputy Collector Muhammad All Malik, Principal Appraiser Dost Muhammad Appraising officer Mohd Bilal, Preventive officer Malak Hashim, Adil Rasheed and other Appraising Officers have sufficiently improved level of deterrence against crime. Moreover, Risk Management System (RMS) of WeBOC has also been improved to foil such evil attempts of criminals.
A consignment (comprising of 2×40′ containers) imported by M/s Best Hope Enterprise, Karachi from Singapore was lying at South Asia Pakistan Terminal (SAPT) Keamari, Karachi.
The importers themselves filed a Goods Declaration for clearance thereof, declaring description of the imported goods as “54 Metric Ton Turmeric Finger”. The GD was marked for physical examination through WeBOC’s selectivity criteria. Detailed examination carried out under the supervision of the Assistant Collector (SAPT) Muhammad Hamza Lak resulted into recovery of 9800 Kgs Betel Nuts from along with turmeric finger.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that M/s Best Hope Enterprise, Karachi have imported the impugned consignment from Singapore declaring description of the goods as “54 Metric Ton Turmeric Finger”. They tried to get clearance of 9800 Kgs “Betel Nuts” concealed in the imported “Turmeric Finger. Open market value of the seized Betel Nuts is around Rs24.50 million while duties & taxes tried to be evaded are calculated as more than Rs2.0 Million. Necessary legal formalities are being completed for initiating criminal proceedings against the importer and their associates.