Smuggled goods worth Rs5bn seized in six weeks.

ISLAMABAD -- In an effective step towards curbing smuggling, Pakistan Customs seized smuggled goods worth Rs5.5 billion during the past six weeks.

A senior officer told Dawn on Saturday that the intelligence directorate, a specific department of Pakistan Customs for anti-smuggling actions, had in September this year launched a countrywide crackdown on the smugglers of various goods based on specialised intelligence and inter-agency cooperation and synergy.

According to the official, the activities were carried out through coordinated efforts between the regional directorates of customs intelligence, with cooperation from other law enforcement agencies, such as Rangers and police, as well as intelligence reports from civil and military agencies.

This collaboration has allowed the directorate general to enter previously 'no-go areas' in Karachi, the customs official said.

Items include Iranian oil, electronics, cigarettes and sugar

According to details of the seizures, about Rs1bn worth of petrol/diesel has been recovered in Punjab and Sindh. Cigarettes, electronics, fabric, betel nuts, tyres and PVC-coated aluminium sheets are among the other things seized.

Aside from this, 510 tonnes of sugar have been seized by Hyderabad and Gwadar directorates for violating norms governing the inter-provincial movement of critical commodities.

The caretaker prime minister has termed the smuggling an existential threat to Pakistan. This realisation is the direct result of increasing awareness within policymakers about detrimental consequences of smuggling on the national economy, and its permeation in influential stratums of society. Actions are being monitored and policy prescriptions and directions are being given by the provincial and national apex xommittees of which the directorate general remains a part, according to customs officials.

Smuggling of Iranian...