Bid to smuggle foreign-made arms foiled at Torkham border

Acting on a tip-off, Customs dept seizes truck carrying Russia, US-made arms; search for driver underway

TORKHAM:

The Customs department foiled a bid to smuggle arms from Afghanistan to Pakistan, on Saturday. The officials inspected the truck at the Torkham border after receiving a tip-off for the same.

During the search, the team found foreign-made arms on the truck entering the country.

Additional Customs Collector Torkham Muhammad Tayyab said customs officials had received information that the smuggling attempt will be made through an empty truck soon.

Subsequently, the officials issued an alert at the border and as soon as truck with registration plate KBL-3257 entered Torkham, the staff began inspecting it at the import terminal.

During the search, they found four Kalashnikov rifles, two US-made M-4 machine guns and one sniper scope, as well as thousands of different types of cartridges.

Also read: Customs officials seize over 100kg of heroin at Torkham border

Tayyab further said the driver of the vehicle managed to disappear in Torkham bazaar taking advantage of the rush, adding that officials cordoned off the area to nab him.

He said that the authorities have confiscated the truck and begun an investigation into the discovery.

Concluding, the official said that they will continue observing measures to curb smuggling of arms and drugs from Afghanistan via Torkham tribal trade route.

In January, Khyber-Torkham Border Customs officials seized over 100kgs of heroin from a truck. Officials said the value of drugs in the international market was over a billion rupees. The operation was one of the few major ones carried out in the history of Torkham Customs.