Customs seizes crystal ice worth Rs300m

Pakistan Customs’ Drug Enforcement Cell (DEC) has recovered crystal ice worth Rs300 million from three baskets of dry fruits reportedly sent back to Afghanistan from Bahrain, during an operation at Jinnah Terminal on Saturday.

A spokesperson for Customs Shafiq Ahmad said that the parcel containing baskets of dry fruits was sent by a man named Rafi from Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, to Bahrain, but in view of the risk of arrest, the concerned person, Gulbaz Khan, in Bahrain did not collect it and sent it back.

Under international laws, the suspicious parcel was sent to Karachi, Pakistan, a country close to Afghanistan, without being opened. “As per the law, the said parcel was to be sent back to Mazar-e-Sharif from Karachi via Peshawar, but the Customs’ DEC staff stationed at Jinnah Terminal detected 14.5kg of crystal ice in the parcel during checking,” said Ahmad.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Customs Appraisement East Collectorate Karachi thwarted a smuggling attempt worth over Rs250 million and seized laptops, mobile phones, tablets, perfumes, cigarettes, and grease.

In a separate operation, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) thwarted an attempt to smuggle hashish disguised as fruits and vegetables via sea at Karachi Port’s International Container Terminal. The ANF intercepted a container bound for Doha and discovered 125kg of hashish ingeniously concealed within onion skins.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2023.