Video of ANF officials taking bribe goes viral

Spokesperson says three officials suspended, inquiry ordered

RAWALPINDI:

Three Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) officials were caught red-handed at the Islamabad International Airport for taking a bribe from a passenger and allowing him to smuggle two shoppers containing some suspicious paraphernalia.

A video of the incident has gone viral on social media, showing the ANF staff asking the passenger to carry with him one of two shopping bags that contain some suspicious items. It could not be ascertained if the shoppers the passenger was carrying contained contraband or drugs.

In the video, the passenger insists on taking both shopping bags filled with unspecified items. Following that, the ANF official asks the passenger if he could favour them in some way, to which the passenger agrees. Then, the ANF official asks the passenger to show his passport and ticket etc.

In the same video, the ANF staff could be seen accompanying the passenger to the next counter, guiding him to inform others that he was taken to the room for a body search and body X-ray. Another ANF official, who could be seen in the video, demands foreign currency from the passenger as a bribe. However, the traveller tells him that he did not possess foreign currency.

In the video, the ANF worker, who was wearing the uniform with the name, Asim, further asks the passenger how much money he could give them. At this, the passenger hands over him some money, and the ANF official instructs him not to go straight away and wait for a few minutes before proceeding to the counter.

In the video, the ANF official can be heard asking the passenger if there were any Euros, Pounds, or anything else in the suitcase he was carrying.

In the video, the passenger could be heard saying that he also has to eat something, on which the ANF official lets him keep some money saying that it was okay and eat something from the eatery.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the ANF said that the high-ups have taken notice of a video that went viral on social media, implicating ANF officials in illegal gratification at the Islamabad International Airport (IIA) and constituted a high-level inquiry committee to ascertain the facts.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2022.