Customs seize smuggled clothes worth Rs56 million in Karachi

KARACHI: Customs officials conducted a raid and seized foreign smuggled clothing worth Rs56.3 million, BOL News reported.

Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation Customs launched the operation after receiving a tip-off and confiscated the smuggled clothes.

During the operation, a container truck was intercepted by Customs personnel containing bundles of different types of foreign clothes. The truck was leaving a warehouse located in PECHS area of Karachi.

A huge quantity of foreign smuggled clothing was recovered from the container including curtain cloth, ladies and gents suiting of different colors.

The driver of the truck was initially questioned about the documents and the place of loading of the foreign clothes. However, he failed to produce the legal documents for the import of the garments.

The truck driver identified the godown and provided information leading to it. Customs officials obtained a search warrant from a civil judge and judicial magistrate under Section 162 of the Customs Act, 1969 and searched the said warehouse.

A huge amount of foreign smuggled cloth was recovered in the operation.  No legal documents were submitted in connection with the import of the clothes.

The smuggled foreign cloths recovered from the impounded truck and warehouse was 15,344 kg. The seized container and truck are worth Rs 6.8 million. The total value of seized goods is Rs56.3 million. Deputy Director of Customs said three people have been arrested while further investigations are underway.

Earlier this year in February, customs authorities claimed to have seized five truckloads of smuggled clothes in a raid in Jama Cloth Market area. A

Pakistan Customs’ anti-smuggling squad carried out the raid on a warehouse off MA Jinnah Road and seized a huge quantity of smuggled clothes.

The squad conducted the raid following information of the presence of smuggled goods in the warehouse. Rangers and police were called to avoid any untoward incident. The seized goods are estimated to be worth around Rs50 million.

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