Video: Betel nuts worth Rs70m seized in Karachi raids

KARACHI: The Customs Department claimed on Friday to have seized a huge quantity of betel nuts worth Rs70 million during raids in Karachi’s SITE Area.

A spokesperson for the department relayed that 1,920 gunny bags and 200 cartons containing sweet supari (betel nuts) weighing 6,000 kilogrammes were seized during a raid on a warehouse in SITE Area.

The estimated worth of the seizure was Rs54 million.

358 bags containing 13,00 kilogrammes of betel nuts worth Rs15.3 million were seized during a raid on another warehouse, the spokesperson said.

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Earlier, on Sept 7, the Customs Department had said a crackdown against smuggled betel nuts by the Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO) of the Collectorate of Customs Enforcement confiscated over Rs 130 million worth of the condiment during the last 30 days.

According to details ASO shared, a loaded trolley carried 33,950 kilograms of betel nuts, smuggled into Pakistan, and was intercepted near Metroville, SITE Area on September 02, 2021. The total amount as per current market rates is Rs57.24 million.

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Preceding this was a bid on August 23 wherein about 4,500 kilograms of betel nuts were recovered from an Afghan export cargo wherein the smuggler hid them under the layer of apricots. The seizure amounts to Rs25.15 million.