Business

Strike in alcohol smuggling case ends

Kashif Hussain June 25, 2010

KARACHI: The All Pakistan Appraisers Association has ended their strike against customs intelligence as warrants for customs officers have been issued.

The association went on strike to protest an FIR calling for the investigation and arrest of 14 members of the Afghan Transit Group for allegedly allowing alcohol to cross the border.

Officials in the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) say the investigation has been deferred until June 30 in order to make sure tax collection and customs clearance continue smoothly until the end of the fiscal year.

According to officials in the Customs Intelligence the officers accused of smuggling of have cleared over 50 containers of liquor worth Rs12.5 million by wrongly declaring that the containers were carrying soft drinks.

The appraisement officers maintain that the alcohol was intended for Nato-Isaf forces but some sources have claimed that this is a front for smuggling alcohol in the country. During investigations in this case the head of Blue Sky has been arrested for allegedly importing and clearing liquor. The FBR has suggested that customs offices remain open over the weekend as the one-day strike resulted in a loss of Rs1 billion due to delays in cargo clearance.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2010.

COMMENTS (2)

Atiq Rehman | 14 years ago | Reply Spot on! The UK government earned 16.7 billion pounds (US$25.4 billion) in taxes on cigarettes and alcohol in the last year alone. With a population of around one third of Pakistan (in 2009 UK had 61.7 million people) that basically means that (on average) each brit paid around 273 pounds in tax to the government simply by buying cigarettes and alchohol. But if Pakistan taxed legal alcohol, does that mean that the bootlegger would lose his profit and not be able to bribe the local police and parliamentarian? By the way, I dont drink alcohol, but even I know where the local bootleggers live, how come the honorable justices and the police have never heard about him?

Meekal Ahmed | 14 years ago | Reply I hate to say this but if this was taxed we would have a massive fiscal surplus. This underground economy is worth billions. We ignore it because we are hypocritical. It is well known that liquor is in short supply when the NA is in session. The same applies to imported smuggled cigarettes. TAX IT!

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