Customs seizes smuggled cellphones worth billions at Karachi Airport

KARACHI: Pakistan Customs successfully thwarted an attempt to smuggle cell phones worth millions at Jinnah International Airport Karachi, ARY News reported on Monday.

According to the Customs officials, the officers deployed at the arrival gate of the international arrival, checking the passengers arriving from foreign countries.

During the surveillance, the staff scanned the luggage of three passengers and seized a total of 51 mobile phones worth Rs 27.6 million.

As per Customs officials, the passengers – who reached Karachi via a connecting flight from Dubai – concealed the mobile phones inside the clothes in the suitcase.

The Customs officials apprehended the three passengers after filing a case against them as they failed to produce the tax details to the customs staffers.

In a similar action, customs officials foiled a bid to smuggle expensive shawls by a woman at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore.

According to details, the Customs officials recovered 240 expensive shawls from the baggage of a woman during the checking process.

Deputy Collector of Custom Saqib Warraich said that a woman who traveled from a private airline flight from Dubai, PA-417, was caught red-handed at the Lahore airport while trying to smuggle shawls, made up of expensive and fancy material, into the country.

“The shawls recovered during the checking process worth up to Rs 1 million,” he said. The woman was later allowed to go after initial questioning.