Sugar and Petroleum Smuggling
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar directed customs authorities and law enforcement agencies to rigorously curtail the smuggling of sugar, petroleum products, urea, agricultural products, and other items during a high-level meeting on smuggling control in border areas.
The meeting, attended by Caretaker Federal Minister for Trade Gohar Ejaz, Minister for Interior Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti, Minister for Petroleum Muhammad Ali, Advisor to the PM Ahmed Cheema, federal secretaries, Federal Board of Revenue chairman, and senior law enforcement officers, saw PM Kakar receive a briefing on the state of smuggling across the country, particularly in border regions, and the measures taken to combat it.
It was disclosed during the meeting that 10 additional checkposts for law enforcement agencies were designated to combat smuggling in Balochistan.
PM Kakar instructed the preparation of an inter-agency report concerning officers involved in smuggling in the province and called for strict departmental action against them, including the imposition of exemplary penalties.
He noted that smuggling of petroleum products was not only diminishing revenue but also pressuring the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
PM Kakar also announced his intention to lead a weekly meeting to assess institutional performance and combat smuggling.
Furthermore, he emphasized the need to enhance the viability of border markets with Iran to facilitate trade with proper documentation, citing that smuggling was causing substantial economic losses to the national economy and deemed it imperative to address the issue.
Law enforcement institutions informed the prime minister that they had reduced smuggling by 40% through their relentless efforts. They briefed him on the strategies employed to combat smuggling.
