Finance Minister Miftah Ismail assures people that “ordinary citizens bringing in a few items will not be harassed”
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced on Tuesday that the government, in fear of smuggling, has "increased enforcement" against smugglers.
“As the government has banned the import of a few non-essential items, we fear that smuggling of these items will increase. Therefore, we have increased enforcement against professional khaipyas (smugglers),” tweeted Miftah.
The finance minister said that the officials are aware of such individuals. He assured the people that “ordinary citizens bringing in a few items will not be harassed”.
Finance Minister Miftah, while tweeting the announcement of the measures, shared a Pakistan Customs notification of seizure of items.
The customs said that the “round-the-clock vigilance” at the "International Arrival Terminal" of the Karachi airport “resulted in seizures of various items” which were brought in the garb of bonafide passenger baggage.
The notification said that items were seized during the baggage checking “of passengers arriving from risky destinations” at the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.
The seized items included 76kgs of “foodstuff”, 127kgs of fruits, 42kgs of “sanitary ware”, 213 used mobile phones, and 96 pairs of “branded shoes”.
The customs said that the items were seized “under Section 168 of the Customs Act, 1969”.
“The enforcement staff has been directed to ensure deterrence in future and to make sure that unscrupulous elements may not use air travel to circumvent the recently imposed ban recently on the import of these items under the garb of bonafide passenger baggage,” said the notification.