Customs seizes heroin worth Rs1.2 billion, smuggled goods in nationwide crackdown
ISLAMABAD (News Desk): Pakistan Customs has seized heroin worth Rs1.2 billion, smuggled goods valued at Rs51.6 million and suspected cigarette-filter raw material involving estimated duties and taxes of Rs319 million in a series of anti-smuggling operations stretching from Balochistan to the country’s northern border.
According to a Pakistan Customs, the seizures were made at Ziarat Cross, Kolpur in Quetta and Sost Dry Port as part of intensified enforcement operations against narcotics trafficking, smuggling and revenue evasion.
In the largest seizure, the Field Enforcement Unit (FEU) at Ziarat Cross, operating under the Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Quetta, recovered 42.891 kilogrammhes of heroin concealed in specially constructed compartments of a Toyota Hilux Revo.
The narcotics were estimated to have an international market value of approximately Rs1.2 billion, while the vehicle was valued at Rs20 million, taking the combined value of the seizure to Rs1.22 billion. Two occupants of the vehicle were arrested at the scene, and an FIR was registered under the Customs Act, 1969, and the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997.
Customs said the latest recovery marked the third major narcotics seizure by FEU Ziarat Cross in less than six weeks.
In a separate operation at the Digital Enforcement Station (DES), Kolpur, officials seized foreign-origin goods worth Rs51.6 million while checking a passenger vehicle travelling on the Quetta-Sibi route.
The confiscated items included approximately 500 kilogrammes of Cellulose Acetate Tow, valued at Rs50 million, alongside 30 Indian-origin Ketamine injections, Chinese salt, poppy seeds, foreign cigarettes, cosmetics and confectionery.
The latest recovery was the second major seizure of Cellulose Acetate Tow at Kolpur in less than ten days. Customs had previously recovered around 730 kilogrammes of the material, valued at Rs73 million, on October 31. The combined value of the two recoveries has exceeded Rs108 million.
Meanwhile, at Silk Route Dry Port, Sost, Customs detected approximately 23,800 kilogrammes of suspected Cellulose Acetate Tow in an undeclared container, along with cosmetics, perfumes, mobile phone batteries and circuit breakers.
The recovered goods have an estimated market value of Rs75 million, while potential duties and taxes have been assessed at approximately Rs319 million, largely linked to the suspected raw material. Samples are being sent for laboratory testing to determine its exact composition and classification.
Legal proceedings are being initiated under the Customs Act, 1969.
The repeated recovery of large quantities of Cellulose Acetate Tow at separate enforcement stations highlights the scale of the challenge facing Customs authorities in monitoring the movement of goods and preventing potential revenue losses.