The Senate body was Informed by FBR that 2,059MTs of Sugar were Seized in Balochistan and 70MTs in KP

During the last nine months of the ongoing fiscal year, the government has reported the seizure of 2,059 metric tonnes of sugar in Balochistan and 70 metric tonnes in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) stated this in response to a public importance point raised by Senator Mehmoodul Hassan regarding sugar smuggling, which was referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. The statement was made in a brief submitted on Wednesday and was related to the Senate sitting on April 7, 2023.

Pakistan Customs has been focusing its resources to combat sugar smuggling from Pakistan to Afghanistan, in line with the government’s directions as revealed by the available copy of the brief.

Although the numbers are limited, the authorities have confiscated 2,059 MT of sugar in Balochistan and 70 MT in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in 77 cases worth approximately Rs. 248 million during the nine-month period from July to March 2023.

Customs officials in Balochistan are facing issues and challenges in their anti-smuggling efforts due to a limited number of enforcement personnel and frequent protests by local mobs and pressure from the administration in case of seizures at check posts.

Pakistan Customs is deployed at various notified Customs Stations at the Pak-Afghan border, including Chaman, Torkham, Kharlachi, Ghulam Khan, and Angoor Adda, as informed in the meeting.

Declarations are filed for the import and export cargo that arrives at these customs stations. National Logistic Cell (NLC) scans the cargo and Customs checks it. In some cases, bags of sugar are discovered hidden under salt or other goods. Legal action, including FIR, is taken in such cases.

The main smuggling routes for sugar are located in the Rakhshan Division of Balochistan where Pakistan Customs is absent from the long porous border, while Frontier Constabulary (FC) and levies are heavily deployed at the border.