Directorate General Intelligence and Investigation (I&I) Lahore on Monday made a historic seizure of smuggled goods including expired cosmetics worth around Rs. 856 million from a warehouse inside the premises of a private school.
This is the biggest seizure of smuggled goods made by the regional customs intelligence authorities of Lahore.
An FIR has been lodged by the I&P cell of the Directorate Customs Regional Office Lahore for criminal investigation while the General Manager of the warehouse has been apprehended.
Recently, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Asim Ahmad stressed the need to beef up country-wide operations against smuggling and smuggled goods at the Directors’ Quarterly Conference convened at the headquarters of the Directorate General I&I Islamabad.
The Director General I&I Customs Faiz Ahmad Chadhar devised an anti-smuggling policy aligned with parameters of transparency and zero tolerance for smuggling. The Lahore Office of the Directorate General accordingly aligned its available resources to achieve better results against smuggling.
Accordingly, the Director I&I Lahore Saima Shahzad constituted a team to analyze a tip-off regarding a hideout of smuggled goods inside the premises of a private school.
After proper surveillance, a team comprising officials of the Directorate raided the warehouse after obtaining search warrants u/s 162 of the CA, 1969. This led to a huge recovery of foreign-origin miscellaneous smuggled goods comprising fabric, shoes, cosmetics, tools, furniture, toys, fixtures, crockery, and electronics.
The recovered smuggled goods have a total worth of approximately Rs. 856 million out of which cosmetics amounting to Rs. 60 million were expired, which were to be sold after changing the tags of expiry. The material for the removal of expiry dates and their substitution with new dates was also found on the premises.
