Customs I&I Karachi confiscates smuggled cloth, valued over 50 million

By: IMRAN KHAN

KARACHI: The team of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate Karachi has conducted a successful operation against the smugglers and raided the secret warehouse of cloth in the bungalow of PECHS Society and recovered foreign valuable cloth worth more than Rs50 million.

Details availed with IndusGazette, after confiscating the goods and the vehicle, a case has been registered and investigation has been started against the transporter involved in smuggling, the warehouse owner and the accused who invested in clothes.

According to the information received, The Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation Customs Karachi, on the instructions of Director Saqif Saeed, has launched a crackdown against the smugglers of clothes, electronics, oil, edible goods, cosmetics etc.

Teams of I&I Customs Karachi have initiated the raids under supervision of Deputy Director Intelligence (ASO) Inam Ullah Wazir. According to reports, on the information regarding the smuggling network, the Customs Intelligence team stopped the truck registration number No.JW-9523 on October 9 and confiscated the 20-foot container loaded with the smuggled clothes.

Later, in the initial investigation the driver revealed that he was going to unload the said cloth in a warehouse situated in PECHS Society, on the pointation a team of Customs Intelligence, after obtaining a search warrant from the Magistrate, raided the said warehouse yesterday, where more smuggled cloth was confiscated in huge quantity, including foreign suiting fancy cloth.

According to Customs Intelligence officials, the value of the clothes seized in both the operations is more than Rs 50 Million while the value of vehicle and container is estimated around Rs 6 million.

 According to the Customs officials, at the moment, as a result of smuggling of clothes, the national exchequer is losing billions of rupees annually in terms of customs duty and taxes. On the other hand, smuggling of gray fabric of Indian origin is causing serious damage to the local textile industry.