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Smuggling on Pak-Afghan border in full swing
March 04, 2011
Smuggling between Pakistan and Afghanistan is at its peak, as transfer and sale of spare auto parts and NATO forces equipment goes on rampantly unchecked, causing an enormous customs tax and duty revenue losses worth billions every year. Auto-spare parts and engines are transferred via Afghanistan border, and sold openly and massively at Quetta’s Zarghon Road, while quite often, even a full-fledged vehicle is prepared from these spares and sold. And all this is going in broad daylight despite the presence of some of the heaviest guarded check posts ever, at most sensitive of points, and under their very vigil!
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Smuggling between Pakistan and Afghanistan is at its peak, as transfer and sale of spare auto parts and NATO forces equipment goes on rampantly unchecked, causing an enormous customs tax and duty revenue losses worth billions every year. Auto-spare parts and engines are transferred via Afghanistan border, and sold openly and massively at Quetta’s Zarghon Road, while quite often, even a full-fledged vehicle is prepared from these spares and sold. And all this is going in broad daylight despite the presence of some of the heaviest guarded check posts ever, at most sensitive of points, and under their very vigil!
Most parts of Balochistan including Quetta are replete with massive presence of unregistered ‘indigenously manufactured’ vehicles, plying its roads, against which there has been no action, neither is there anything on anvil. While all this was also costing government billions in revenue earnings. On the flip of coin, the consignments arriving in Kabul for the NATO forces supposedly ‘engaged against’ Taliban, which include military boots, jackets, bags, blankets, military uniforms, and other complete military kits, without any checks or ban! Besides depriving the government of billions worth of revenue, there is also a strong danger of effective acts of terrorism using these openly sold smuggled military items.
Mis declaration by, and connivance of customs’ personnel, in this game of billions is yet another sensational issue. It is known that directorate intelligence and investigations, FBR (federal board of Revenue) Karachi stopped the clearance of 22 containers from Bomal Yard, West Wharf, over information of mis-declaration. A closer scrutiny revealed some really startlingly horrifying instances of corruption and irregularities. Many items had been declared as those falling under lesser duty rates, but were actually discovered to be carrying higher duty rates. These included children/ adult diapers, by such companies like AMR enterprises, while many containers owned by MS enterprises declaring their goods as otherwise, were discovered to be carrying, much expensive items, like electronic goods CCTVs, cameras, mobile chargers, motorbike parts, TV kits, cosmetics and others. Similar amount and kind of things were also discovered from containers booked for Rehman and FA Enterprises.
All this, considering the fact that Bomal Yard is often used for clearance and handling of smaller items. It was also discovered that the nefarious task was being carried out for some time by joint connivance of principal appraisers Pir Moazzam and Zaman Jamali alongwith customs intelligence personnel, Ilyas, Tariq Memon, etc. The whole secret was blown apart over some dispute regarding due share. It has also been discovered Pir Moazzam, being brother of a Provincial ministers was being provided full security umbrella from law enforcement.
The intensity of smuggling can be very well fathomed due to the fact that Balochistan is another very hot and quite open area, well notorious for smuggling. Especially after ending of any writ of customs in such Balochistan areas like Panjgur, Turbat and Gwadar, smuggling on the Pak-Iran border has also increased at a rapid pace. The most famous commodity in the respect of Iranian smuggled goods, making inroads in Pakistani border towns of Sindh and Balochistan are Iranian raw petrol, diesel and charcoal, raw plastic materiel, chemicals, and other items. A close survey has disclosed that 700,000-800,000 liters of annual raw Iranian petrol is smuggled, causing a massive revenue loss to the National exchequer to the tune of Rs.170 million daily, amounting to an annual revenue loss of Rs.6.25 billions. Close to 15-18 oil tankers, carrying smuggled Iranian oil enter Karachi from Balochistan.
From Pakistan side, livestock, rice, banaspati ghee, wheat, and fruits are being smuggled into Iran. Due cooperation of law id often sought in this smuggling! ; according to which the custom officials clear upto 10 simultaneous consignments. The same documentation is carried out to get 10-12 consignments. This lucrative trade has caused a 400% increase in import of raw plastic materiel, especially P-PCT3901, via Afghan Transit trade. Many consignments are often off loaded right at Karachi. Smugglers, which also include some major business communities and traders, entail full connivance of ASOs of customs’ preventive units, and customs’ intelligence units. The traders use the 40% to 60% of their imports in a legal way as a decoy for the remaining part of their trading by smuggled goods.
Traders have often launched their complaints regarding these open, daylight instances of smuggling, to chairman and DG, FBR (Federal Board of Revenue) but as usual, to no avail. The most interesting part is that all this corruption is rampant despite the fact, that FBR has a department of directorate of intelligence and investigation for monitoring of customs’ personnel. This department is also responsible for keeping a vigil over tax evaders, but ironically this department is notorious for abetting tax evaders.
Rampant flood of smuggling has also been observed via airports, and the foremost item of smuggling here is the latest craze of cell phones; 50% of which were smuggled items. Efficient and effective actions of director customs’ intelligence, Zahid Khokhar stemmed the flow to some extent, but has picked up again. Notorious smuggler Malik Nazir has based himself in Karachi, while many customs’ officials rarely venture to curtail these activities, as many of their own departments are actively involved in smugglings.
FBR has reportedly the biggest share of National corruption, as the former finance minister Shaukat Tareen has intimated of Rs500 billion worth of corruption in FBR. While for the first ever time in history of Pakistan, a regular investigation of the department of Customs has been carried out.
Economic analysts have stressed for extermination of all massive stores established on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, as smuggling between Pakistan-Afghanistan-Indian borders is being carried out rampantly, by unscrupulous elements, whose items, being cheaper were accepted by consumers instantly. Only Serious steps to discourage this massive scourge of smuggling can help alleviate economic crisis from the Country, besides effecting an increase in National revenue.
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