Crackdown on smuggled items: Multan to get a customs court

Customs intelligence DG says new staff will be hired to improve operational capacity

MULTAN:

Work on setting up the first customs court in south Punjab is underway, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Director General Imtiaz Ahmed Khan said during a visit to the Multan Customs Intelligence and Investigation directorate. The court will be set up in Multan and a check post will be set up at Sadiqabad next month, he said.

He said this was a part of the campaign to crack down on non-custom paid items, especially smuggled vehicles. “We have observed an increase in trafficking of smuggled vehicles and vehicle spare parts.” Vehicles and spare parts from Japan and Dubai are smuggled through Iran’s Bandar Abbas seaport via Balochistan to the Punjab, he said. He said south Punjab was the crossroads for the smuggling bid and vehicles from here were then sent to Swat in KP among other districts.

Between July, 2015, and February 15, 2016, the Multan Customs Intelligence and Investigation officials had seized 59 vehicles for not paying custom, 2,616 metre cloth worth Rs5.3 million, 7,211 tyres/tubes worth Rs33.9 million, auto spare parts worth Rs23.5 million and diesel worth Rs13.7 million. The smuggled vehicles and other items are worth Rs285.8 million, he said.

One of the problems faced by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation directorate is an acute shortage of staff, the director general said. “We will soon recruit inspectors, head constables and constables to help us crackdown on smuggling.”

Khan urged customs officers to launch a forceful tax-recovery campaign and to shore up anti-smuggling operations. “All customs officials will have to work as a single team to improve revenue collection,” he said.

Multan Customs Intelligence Additional Director Rai Nisar Ahmad apprised him of the performance and problems faced at the Multan office. He said shortage of staff had badly affected the department’s performance in field operations against smugglers.

“There is an acute shortage of operational staff, constables in particular,” he said.

The Customs Intelligence & Investigation director general then promised to solve their problems at the earliest. He also promised to seek permission from the FBR chairman to initiate the recruitment process on vacant posts.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2016.