Bureau Report
PESHWAR: The Customs officials on Sunday foiled a bid to smuggle arms from Afghanistan to Pakistan after they inspected a truck at the Torkham border upon receiving a tip-off.
Additional Collector Customs Muhammad Tayyab said that customs officials had received intelligence reports on arms smuggling to Pakistan from the neighbouring country and customs personnel deputed at the border crossing were also put on alert.
The official said the customs officials thoroughly searched the truck full of coal entered Pakistan from Afghanistan and recovered foreign weapons and ammunition from the hidden compartments of the vehicle.
The seizure includes five American and one Turkish-made pistols and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Customs Collector Tayyab said foreign pistols are used for targeted killings in the area. The truck bearing registration number KAB-21488 along with its driver identified as Khayal Mohammad, a resident of Afghanistan have been taken into custody.
The customs collector said that arms smuggling from Afghanistan to Pakistan witnessed an increase lately and disturbed the law and order situation of the area. Customs personnel would continue to take steps to curb drug and arms smuggling to maintain peace in the region, the official added.
In a similar seizure on Saturday, The Customs department foiled a bid to smuggle arms from Afghanistan to Pakistan, on Saturday. The officials inspected the truck at the Torkham border after receiving a tip-off for the same.
During the search, the team found foreign-made arms on the truck entering the country.
Additional Customs Collector Torkham Muhammad Tayyab said customs officials had received information that the smuggling attempt will be made through an empty truck soon.
Subsequently, the officials issued an alert at the border and as soon as truck with registration plate KBL-3257 entered Torkham, the staff began inspecting it at the import terminal.
During the search, they found four Kalashnikov rifles, two US-made M-4 machine guns and one sniper scope, as well as thousands of different types of cartridges. Tayyab further said the driver of the vehicle managed to disappear in Torkham bazaar taking advantage of the rush, adding that officials cordoned off the area to nab him. He said that the authorities have confiscated the truck and begun an investigation into the discovery.
Concluding, the official said that they will continue observing measures to curb smuggling of arms and drugs from Afghanistan via Torkham tribal trade route.
In January, Khyber-Torkham Border Customs officials seized over 100kgs of heroin from a truck. Officials said the value of drugs in the international market was over a billion rupees. The operation was one of the few major ones carried out in the history of Torkham Customs.
