Customs officials foil bid to smuggle heroin

Three men en route to Karachi from Quetta arrested

KARACHI: Customs officials claimed on Tuesday to have foiled a smuggling bid while recovering narcotics worth millions of rupees.

The suspects allegedly involved in the smuggling were also arrested.

This was disclosed during a press conference by Customs' district South enforcement chief collector, Muhammed Zahid Khokar, and preventive collector Dr Saifuddin Junejo at Customs House Tuesday evening.

In a drive launched against the menace of smuggling of narcotics, the staff of the Anti-Smuggling Organisation, which is a part of the Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) of Preventive, Karachi, foiled a smuggling bid near the Customs check point at Regional Cooperation for Development Highway, said Customs officials.



"Our staff has recovered 11 kilogrammes of narcotics contraband which is valued at Rs110 million," said Khokhar, adding that the drugs were recovered from a passenger, Nadeem Rahim, who was travelling in an alYousuf coach en route Karachi from Quetta.

The heroin, recovered from Rahim's luggage, was kept in 11 polythene bags, each containing one kg of heroin, said Khokhar, adding that apart from Rahim, the bus driver, Usman Afzal, and the bus conductor, Salal Ahmed, were also arrested.

The officials further said that they had received information, passengers carrying contraband heroin would board the bus during transit from Quetta to Karachi and disembark prior to the Customs check point, using alternative transport to enter Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2017.