Undocumented trade: CNG kits, cell phones seized in drive against smuggling

FBR says goods worth Rs150b smuggled into Pakistan via Afghan Transit Trade route.

KARACHI:

Polythene bags and auto parts were among the items that were recently seized in an anti-smuggling operation conducted by the Model Custom Collectorate Preventive.

According to Customs spokesperson Qamar Thalho, CNG cylinders, motorcycle spare parts, cell phones, gutka, petroleum and other oil products, cigarettes, copper refrigeration tubes and air conditioners were on the list of smuggled items that were seized from vehicles that were travelling within the city as well as those that were moving on routes to and from it.

“Some of these items came from Iran through Balochistan, and many of them were seized when trucks moving along the route were inspected,” he said. He added that it would take time for officials to determine the monetary value of the catch, but guessed that it would be in “millions of rupees”.

According to customs, smuggling has been severely affecting domestic industries and is also depriving the national exchequer of money in the form of uncollected import duties and taxes.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has said that goods worth at least Rs150 billion are smuggled into the country through the Afghan Transit Trade route every year, and that the national exchequer loses over Rs10 billion in uncollected taxes due to smuggling of auto parts alone.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2012.