Five customs officials held for helping smugglers

ISLAMABAD: The Customs Intelligence has arrested five officials for allegedly facilitating smuggling of liquor by a fake company, Luner Product, which claimed to have a contract for supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan.

The arrested Customs officials were accused of issuing a ‘border clearance certificate’ at the Torkham border to containers of the fictitious company which were later found in Peshawar by the Customs Intelligence.

According to Customs sources, trucks of National Logistic Cell (NLC) were used for transporting containers to Afghanistan.

Munir Qureshi, a senior official of the Federal Board of Revenue, confirmed on Monday the arrest of the customs officials and smuggling of liquor by Luner Product company under the cover of supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Sources said officials of the Customs Intelligence had found some containers which were being dismantled by scrap dealers at Ring Road in Peshawar.

Further investigation by the Customs Intelligence revealed that the containers had been imported by the ghost company on the pretext of supplying goods to Nato forces in Afghanistan.

The sources said that when Customs Intelligence officials got in touch with Nato officials in Kabul, they denied the import of these containers by the alliance and clarified that no company by the name of Luner Product had a contract for Nato supplies.

After the Nato denial, Customs Intelligence officials opened three containers of the same company at the Karachi Port and found liquor in them.

The sources said that the company had imported 43 containers to date and some of them were seized in Peshawar and three at the Karachi Port.

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