Smuggled beetle nut worth Rs10m seized

The Anti-Smuggling Organization of Pakistan Customs conducted a raid in SITE area on Friday and seized a huge stash of smuggled betel nut estimated to be worth more than Rs10 million.

Addressing a press conference, Customs Preventative Collector Dr Iftikhar Ahmed said that the raid was conducted on a godown after surveillance of the area, following a tip-off. He said the godown owner was also arrested. The operation was led by Deputy Collector Anti-Smuggling Organization Muhammad Faisal.

Ahmed further said that 23 tonnes of raw material and 25 tin packs of betel nut were recovered from the godown, which are estimated to be worth more than Rs10 million.

The godown owner, Shaikh Amir, was arrested and officials are conducting further investigation. According to Ahmed, in the past six months, seven operations have been carried out in which 500 tonnes of betel nut was seized.

Last year, provision of certificate was imposed on betel nut, therefore, smuggling had increased and the product has been coming to Pakistan through different channels. The official said the Customs department is playing an important role in overcoming this smuggling.

During this year, more than 1 million litres of smuggled diesel has been seized, while luxury vehicles and other miscellaneous items worth more than Rs3.1 billion have been confiscated, preventing a great loss to the national exchequer, Ahmed said. Moreover, 8,566 kilogrammes of drugs, 79,572 liquor bottles and 63,500 of smuggled cell phones have also been seized in various operations, he added.