Ashrafuddin Pirzada
TORKHAM: Torkham custom appraisement officials foiled bids to smuggle mobile cell phones and foreign currency and arrested the piddler, officials said on Tuesday.
Assistant collector Torkham custom appraiser Fariha Naqvi told this scribe that they recovered 0.1 million Saudi Riyals from an Afghanistan-bound truck in Torkham. She said the currency was tried to smuggle to Afghanistan. She said the drivers of the truck identified as Rahimullah and Muhammad Rahim were arrested and challenged.
Fariha said on the directives of Amjadur Rehman, custom collector appraisement, they have adopted a zero-tolerance policy against all kinds of smuggling at the Torkham border crossing. She said they have deployed extra contingents at export terminals to discourage smuggling from and to Afghanistan.
Fariha said they also recovered 45 expensive cell phones from a loaded truck at Torkham. She said the seized cell phones were worth in millions of rupees in the open market.
She said Pakistan customs staff was committed to fighting against smuggling of all banned items to and from Afghanistan. She said the staff was directed to remain vigilant and keep an eye on smugglers.
