ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Customs top management is reluctant to initiate criminal proceedings in a high profile gold smuggling case.
Well-placed sources told Pakistan Today that Pakistan Customs at Peshawar Airport seized 10 kilograms of gold at the departure lounge some months ago.
However, the sources said that an interesting situation emerged as the high-ups of the Pakistan Customs department pressurized its official to release the gold but the concerned inspector deposited the gold in State Bank of Pakistan.
As per the government rules, the export of gold, except with the general or special permission of the State Bank, is prohibited, besides, Customs rules bound passengers or crew to declare their baggage.
“The owner of any baggage whether a passenger or a member of the crew shall, for the purposes of clearing it, make a verbal or written declaration of its contents in such manner as may be prescribed by rules to the appropriate officer,” reads the law.
It is also not allowed if any person attempts to bring into or takes out of Pakistan belongings including currency, gold, precious metals or stones, in any form, through concealment in baggage or circumventing customs controls at airports, sea-ports and land border custom-stations.
Sources said that the officials of Pakistan Customs secretly facilitated tax evaders, defrauders and smugglers, causing major revenue loss to the national kitty.
However, they said that the role of custom intelligence was also suspicious when it dealt with fiscal fraud cases. The custom intelligence which should have instantly taken notice of the alleged gold smuggling case behaved just like a silent spectator in the whole saga.
Earlier in a mega scam of MG vehicles in which a senior custom officer was reportedly involved, custom intelligence has buried that case involving revenue losses in billions under the context that PAC had not issued to agency a written directive to investigate the case.
A tripartite collusion among custom collectorates, custom intelligence and revenue evaders is touching its highest mark under the present custom administration, sources added.
Despite repeated attempts, Pakistan customs officials did not respond to queries till filling the story.
