LAHORE: Collectorate Customs Enforcement and Compliance during the first six months of the current financial year made a total value of seizures worth Rs2,467 million which is a 270% and 315% higher as compared to the seizures made during the same period of the financial year 2019-20 and 2018-19 respectively.
In pursuance of the directions from the Chairman FBR Javed Ghani and Member Customs Operations Tariq Huda, the Collectorate of Customs Enforcement & Compliance Lahore carried out an exhaustive drive against transportation and trade of smuggled goods during the current financial year.
The Collectorate under the guidance of the Chief Collector Faiz Ahmed adopted effective preventive strategy besides carrying out information-based operations. Collector Basit Maqsood Abbasi tasked his team consisting of Additional Collector Mateen Alam and Assistant Collectors Ali Tauqeer and Mr. Isfandyar Khan to activate the network of informers to gather correct information about the storage places of smuggled goods and then with the assistance of other law enforcement agencies including Police, raids were
carried out at these points successfully.
Effective surveillance on strategic entry points of Lahore was maintained due to which a large number of vehicles containing smuggled goods were apprehended.
Due to dedicated efforts and commitment of the Anti-Smuggling team of Collectorate of Enforcement & Compliance, Lahore, record seizures of smuggled goods were made and a remarkable surge was witnessed in anti-smuggling operations, surpassing previous two years’ biannual performance by a significant margin.
During the first six months of the current financial the total value of the seizures was Rs2,467 million which is a 270% and 315% higher as compared to the seizures made during the same period of the financial year 2019-20 and 2018-19 respectively.
The ASO team led by Assistant Collectors Ali Tauqir and Isfandyar Ikram raided the godowns in the infamous areas of Lahore including Truck Adda, Shah Alam Market, Misri Shah, and Badami Bagh and targeted major entry points into Lahore, recovering huge quantities of smuggled betel nuts, cigarettes, petroleum jelly, welding electrodes, skimmed
milk, tyres, tiles, zinc ingots, fabric, auto parts, food items etc.
On the directions of the Collector, MCC E&C, Lahore, the ASO carried out a series of sting operations in Lahore to seize smuggled/ non-duty paid vehicles and impounded smuggled luxury vehicles including Toyota Lexus, Land Cruiser V8, Prado, Surf, Mark-X, and BMW.
A total of 61 vehicles valuing Rs. 469 million were seized. The ASO team continues its drive and will further ramp up operation.