Can General Munir take on smuggling networks?

Now the cat is out of the bag–the army and other security forces are involved in large scale smuggling of currency, urea, oil and other commodities, including wheat, across Pakistan and outside. These smuggling rackets flourish in areas bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

The big question is not whether soldiers and paramilitary forces are involved in the lucrative illegal trade but will General Asim Munir walk his talk about a crackdown on such activities. He has been quick to arrest and charge civilians for the May 9 incident. But will he be equally hard on his own soldiers and security officials without whose involvement the billion-dollar illegal network could not move.

Punishing soldiers could prove to be a difficult task for General Munir facing disgruntled elements within the force since he took over a little less than a year ago. Several hundred soldiers have already been chargesheeted or dismissed for their role in public dissent against the army, including the May 9 incident.

The smuggling network, worth over several billion dollars, involves not only soldiers but also Generals, politicians, police officers and bureaucrats. The smuggling is carried not only through porous borders along Balochistan and KP. These routes are used to ‘import’ and ‘export’ commodities such as sugar, oil, tyres, urea and even vehicles in big numbers. But high-value products such as branded perfumes, expensive watches and designer purses are mostly being brought from Dubai and other Gulf nations into the country by carriers through major airports and seaports in connivance with Customs officials and personnel of other agencies. These items are mostly smuggled in without the payment of taxes or are hugely under-invoiced. 

It is similarly easier to take dollars out of the country via an airport than any other way. No wonder Peshawar’s proverbial Bara bazaar, which used to be the only source of smuggled foreign goods for affluent middle-class families until the late 1980s, has spread across the length and breadth of the country. The shelves of most shops are stacked with such products, because no one asks the powerful trader community to provide documentary proof that taxes were paid on the ‘import’ of such items.

Long before the Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti admitted to the widespread smuggling rackets involving security personnel, it was public knowledge. During the wheat crisis, it was the wheat flour bags which were smuggling across provinces and into Afghanistan. Trucks and tempos would travel on provincial and national highways crisscrossing Pakistan carrying wheat flour bags to mills and godowns where the food commodity was in acute shortage, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

An important fertiliser, Urea, has for long been smuggling across the Pak-Afghan border. The local farmers have been complaining of large-scale urea smuggling into Afghanistan for over a year with the government refusing to heed. The fertiliser is smuggled to Afghanistan through the Chaman and Torkham borders. The Afghan brokers are readily purchasing truckloads of urea.

Likewise, millions of  dollars get smuggled into Afghanistan from Pakistan every day.Traders and smugglers are bringing as much as $5 million across the border, according to forex traders. Since the Taliban takeover of Kabul, there has been an acute currency crisis in Afghanistan caused by billions locked up in foreign banks. The gap is filled by smugglers from Peshawar and Karachi, helped in large measure by the police, paramilitary and army officials along the smuggling route. According to a recent intelligence agency report, as many as  722 currency dealers are involved in havala and hundi operations. Out these dealers, Punjab has the highest number with 205 traders involved in the illegal operation. More than 180 dealers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 176 in Sindh, 104 in Balochistan, 37 in Kashmir and 17 in Islamabad are part of the network.

Besides currency, oil is the next big ticket item on the list of smuggled goods. More than  two billion litres of oil are smuggled across the Iranian border, causing a loss of Rs 250 billion. There is no official estimate of oil and related products smuggled through sea routes. Over 75 dealers in the border region are involved in the smuggling of Iranian oil while 995 pumps across the country are involved in selling the oil. The Pakistan State Oil vehicles are involved in the smuggling operations.  Oil from Iran is smuggled in Iranian vehicles and comes to Pakistan. Iranian oil smuggling vehicles are called Zamyad.Even the army-run transport giant, National Logistics Corporation (NLC), was charged in 2019 for stealing crude oil worth Rs 20 billion on the way to the refinery. Among those charged included four-star General Ahsan Saleem Hayat and senior officials of a logistics organisation for running a smuggling racket of crude oil worth Rs 20 million per day. Earlier, over 17 army officials  including two lieutenant colonels, three majors and six soldiers of varying ranks were among those found guilty of embezzling oil and dismissed.

Cross-border smuggling of diesel is even more staggering–volumes are approximately 4,000 tons per day, which results in sales loss of about 120,000 tons per month or 143 million litres per month, causing an unprecedented revenue loss of Rs10.2 billion per month.

The whole economy survives on these insidious and powerful smuggling networks. Smuggled items range from cell phones and fuel to daily-use items like toiletries and tea. A staggering 74% of cellphones sold in Pakistan were smuggled into the country. As for vehicles, 53% of diesel, 43% of engine oil, 40% of tyres and 16% of auto parts sold in the country were smuggled. More than 53% of toiletries, 23% of tea and 20% of cigarettes are smuggled.. Medical drugs worth Rs44 billion are also smuggled into Pakistan. So is a significant chunk of textiles – 300,000 tonnes to be precise –  smuggled into Pakistan. With so much at stake, can any one, including General Munir, dare to challenge the most lucrative business in Pakistan.

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Now the cat is out of the bag–the army and other security forces are involved in large scale smuggling of currency, urea, oil and other commodities, including wheat, across Pakistan and outside. These smuggling rackets flourish in areas bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

The big question is not whether soldiers and paramilitary forces are involved in the lucrative illegal trade but will General Asim Munir walk his talk about a crackdown on such activities. He has been quick to arrest and charge civilians for the May 9 incident. But will he be equally hard on his own soldiers and security officials without whose involvement the billion-dollar illegal network could not move.

Punishing soldiers could prove to be a difficult task for General Munir facing disgruntled elements within the force since he took over a little less than a year ago. Several hundred soldiers have already been chargesheeted or dismissed for their role in public dissent against the army, including the May 9 incident.

The smuggling network, worth over several billion dollars, involves not only soldiers but also Generals, politicians, police officers and bureaucrats. The smuggling is carried not only through porous borders along Balochistan and KP. These routes are used to ‘import’ and ‘export’ commodities such as sugar, oil, tyres, urea and even vehicles in big numbers. But high-value products such as branded perfumes, expensive watches and designer purses are mostly being brought from Dubai and other Gulf nations into the country by carriers through major airports and seaports in connivance with Customs officials and personnel of other agencies. These items are mostly smuggled in without the payment of taxes or are hugely under-invoiced.

It is similarly easier to take dollars out of the country via an airport than any other way. No wonder Peshawar’s proverbial Bara bazaar, which used to be the only source of smuggled foreign goods for affluent middle-class families until the late 1980s, has spread across the length and breadth of the country. The shelves of most shops are stacked with such products, because no one asks the powerful trader community to provide documentary proof that taxes were paid on the ‘import’ of such items.

Long before the Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti admitted to the widespread smuggling rackets involving security personnel, it was public knowledge. During the wheat crisis, it was the wheat flour bags which were smuggling across provinces and into Afghanistan. Trucks and tempos would travel on provincial and national highways crisscrossing Pakistan carrying wheat flour bags to mills and godowns where the food commodity was in acute shortage, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

An important fertiliser, Urea, has for long been smuggling across the Pak-Afghan border. The local farmers have been complaining of large-scale urea smuggling into Afghanistan for over a year with the government refusing to heed. The fertiliser is smuggled to Afghanistan through the Chaman and Torkham borders. The Afghan brokers are readily purchasing truckloads of urea.

Likewise, millions of dollars get smuggled into Afghanistan from Pakistan every day.Traders and smugglers are bringing as much as $5 million across the border, according to forex traders. Since the Taliban takeover of Kabul, there has been an acute currency crisis in Afghanistan caused by billions locked up in foreign banks. The gap is filled by smugglers from Peshawar and Karachi, helped in large measure by the police, paramilitary and army officials along the smuggling route. According to a recent intelligence agency report, as many as 722 currency dealers are involved in havala and hundi operations. Out these dealers, Punjab has the highest number with 205 traders involved in the illegal operation. More than 180 dealers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 176 in Sindh, 104 in Balochistan, 37 in Kashmir and 17 in Islamabad are part of the network.

Besides currency, oil is the next big ticket item on the list of smuggled goods. More than two billion litres of oil are smuggled across the Iranian border, causing a loss of Rs 250 billion. There is no official estimate of oil and related products smuggled through sea routes. Over 75 dealers in the border region are involved in the smuggling of Iranian oil while 995 pumps across the country are involved in selling the oil. The Pakistan State Oil vehicles are involved in the smuggling operations. Oil from Iran is smuggled in Iranian vehicles and comes to Pakistan. Iranian oil smuggling vehicles are called Zamyad.Even the army-run transport giant, National Logistics Corporation (NLC), was charged in 2019 for stealing crude oil worth Rs 20 billion on the way to the refinery. Among those charged included four-star General Ahsan Saleem Hayat and senior officials of a logistics organisation for running a smuggling racket of crude oil worth Rs 20 million per day. Earlier, over 17 army officials including two lieutenant colonels, three majors and six soldiers of varying ranks were among those found guilty of embezzling oil and dismissed.

Cross-border smuggling of diesel is even more staggering–volumes are approximately 4,000 tons per day, which results in sales loss of about 120,000 tons per month or 143 million litres per month, causing an unprecedented revenue loss of Rs10.2 billion per month.

The whole economy survives on these insidious and powerful smuggling networks. Smuggled items range from cell phones and fuel to daily-use items like toiletries and tea. A staggering 74% of cellphones sold in Pakistan were smuggled into the country. As for vehicles, 53% of diesel, 43% of engine oil, 40% of tyres and 16% of auto parts sold in the country were smuggled. More than 53% of toiletries, 23% of tea and 20% of cigarettes are smuggled.. Medical drugs worth Rs44 billion are also smuggled into Pakistan. So is a significant chunk of textiles – 300,000 tonnes to be precise – smuggled into Pakistan. With so much at stake, can any one, including General Munir, dare to challenge the most lucrative business in Pakistan.

By Editor

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