Return of the Zambad.

It is a common sight in Balochistan's Panjgur district: a convoy of distinctively blue, medium-sized pickup trucks snaking through the desolate terrain, carrying a deadly cargo of contraband petrol and diesel. They rumble through Damag pass, cutting through the mountain ranges in tehsil Pharom near the Pakistan-Iran border, to make their way home with what is the only means of sustenance for entire communities. These blue trucks are known locally as 'Zambad' - a reference to their capacity to carry outsized loads. They are the unlikely symbols of an entire grey economy - the transport of choice for smugglers operating fuel routes between Iran and Pakistan.

Over the years, the fencing of the Pakistan-Iran border and checkpoints raised by over-zealous Frontier Corps (FC) personnel had made it increasingly difficult for Zambad drivers to make a living. On paper, the restrictions on 'importing' Irani fuel are still very much in place. However, most on-ground hurdles have quietly been removed. In background interviews, officials in the Makran division explained that the local administration had come to realise that fuel smuggling was the only way of putting bread on the table for a major chunk of the population residing in five towns bordering the province.

And so, the Zambads were allowed back on the highways. You'll see them zipping around, carrying stacks of 60-litre jerry cans full of highly combustible petroleum tied down willy-nilly with nylon rope.

One Zambad driver - Nasir Baloch, father of three - transports smuggled fuel from Damag in Panjgur to Surab, a town that serves as a key hub for the distribution of Iranian petrol to the rest of the province.

Many families are supported by the tacitly allowed increase in fuel smuggling from Iran into Balochistan

'Unlike in the past, we no longer face many difficulties in the transportation of oil,' Mr Baloch recently told Dawn over the phone. He sounded jubilant, even ecstatic. His happiness was due to Pakistani petrol prices sky-rocketing to around Rs250 a litre at the time, while Iranian petrol was still retailing for Rs200 a litre.

'We are being paid handsomely these days. Demand for our petrol has increased manifold,' he explained.

'I have been transporting oil for several years now,' Mr Baloch continued. 'When I started, I did not own a vehicle. Today, I have my own. It [the work] is more than enough for me to support my family. In fact, I support my siblings in Panjgur too.'

The Zambad he...