Crackdown intensified against carcinogenic tobacco chew

Huge quantities of betel nuts, gutka and mawa seized in raids

KARACHI:

A task force formed by the IG Sindh to crack down on carcinogenic tobacco chew has seized 2,200kgs of betel nuts, 700 packets of gutka and other non-customs items during a successful raid on two luxury buses near Liaquatabad No10 on Sunday.

A task force team, led by Clifton SP Ahmed Chaudhry and Gulshan SP Iqbal Zafar Siddique Chhanga, conducted the raid on two luxury buses arriving from Balochistan to Karachi near Liaquatabad No 10.

The raid was conducted on the basis of a tip-off and besides betel nuts and gutka, the haul included non-customs paid items such as five LCDs, two cartons of cigarettes, toffees, chocolates, unhealthy cooking oil, cloth, etc.

Five suspects who were smuggling the illegal items into Karachi were also taken into custody. These items were supposed to be sold to different vendors across the city via buses.

A case has been registered against them, and an investigation is currently underway. Meanwhile, Liaquatabad SP Ayaz Hussain, who is also part of the task force, led a search operation in Bandhani Colony, in the night between Saturday and Sunday and rounded up 11 suspects allegedly operating six gutka factories at homes.

The operation also resulted in the recovery of 500kg of "GM Gutka".

Separately, the Ibrahim Hydari police arrested two suspected gutka and mawa sellers, identified as Shehbaz and Sajjad, and recovered 78kg of the hazardous tobacco chew from their possession.

However, two accomplices of the arrested suspects, identified as Sanaullah and Hameed, managed to escape from the scene during the operation.

Police registered a case against the suspects and launched an investigation.

In a third incident, the Bin Qasim police apprehended three suspected gutka and mawa sellers, identified as Abdul Sattar, Amir, and Nasir, and recovered 10kg of mawa from their possession.