Customs foil bid to smuggle banned items to Afghanistan

Officials at Torkham border recover banned items including sugar and fertilisers

TORKHAM:

Custom officials in Torkham on Saturday foiled an attempt to smuggle banned items in an export consignment to Afghanistan.

According to details, an export consignment of miscellaneous goods was loaded in a vehicle bearing registration number GAG-3111 which was checked during the examination stage.

Detailed examination of the said consignment led to the recovery of banned items including fertilisers (7,700kg) and sugar (6,000kg).

Read more: Customs foil another arms smuggling bid at Pak-Afghan border

The recovered items were seized under Section 168 of the Customs Act, 1969 in violation of Section 2(S) & 16 of the Act ibid read with Para 4(1) of EPO, 2022.

The vehicle was also seized under section 157 of the Customs Act, 1969 being used in transportation of banned items.

Moreover, a criminal case has also been registered against the driver, clearing agent and the exporter. The driver of the vehicle has been arrested for further investigation.

In April, Customs officials foiled a bid to smuggle arms from Afghanistan to Pakistan after they inspected a truck at the Torkham border upon receiving a tip-off.

Also read: Bid to smuggle foreign-made arms foiled at Torkham border

Additional Collector Customs Muhammad Tayyab said that customs officials had received intelligence reports on arms smuggling to Pakistan from the neighbouring country and customs personnel deputed at the border crossing were also put on alert.

The official said the customs officials thoroughly searched the truck full of coal entered Pakistan from Afghanistan and recovered foreign weapons and ammunition from the hidden compartments of the vehicle.

The seizure includes five American and one Turkish-made pistols and thousands of rounds of ammunition.