Karachi: Pakistan Customs Enforcement Karachi, in an operation on a tip-off received, has revealed the theft of duty taxes worth more than Rs 3.6 billion through the large-scale smuggling of American almonds under the guise of beans.
According to Deputy Collector Customs Enforcement Raza Naqvi, a tip-off was received that an importer named Messrs. AR Brothers was smuggling a large quantity of shelled American almonds from Jebel Ali, Dubai under the guise of beans and transferring them to his warehouses.
On this information, Collector Customs Enforcement Moinuddin Wani issued instructions to take custody of all the containers of imported beans.
The Anti-Smuggling Organization team cleared the ICT Green Channel of M/s AR Brothers from Karachi International Container Terminal and recovered 2 containers from the warehouses of Rahman Warehouse Falcon Logistics Complex, Hub River Road, Haroonabad Site Area. Later, the Anti-Smuggling Organization intercepted 2 more containers that had been cleared and took them into its custody at the exit gate of KICT.
According to the authorities, a total of 155 tons of shelled American almonds, 50 tons of beans, 15 tons of various vegetable seeds and 200 cartons of American-made sling film were recovered from these 5 containers cleared from the V-Book Green Channel of importer M/s AR Brothers.
According to the authorities, the importer had tried to smuggle shelled American almonds under the guise of beans by making a misdeclaration, thereby defrauding the national treasury of Rs. 450 million in duty and taxes.
The authorities have registered a case and seized all the items worth Rs 1439 million. According to Raza Naqvi, after examining the records obtained during the investigation, it has been identified that the importer AR Brothers has stolen Rs 3.6 billion in terms of duty and taxes by obtaining clearance of 84 containers of beans through the green channel during February 2025.
The importer was obtaining customs clearance of American almonds from Jebel Ali, Dubai, through the green channel in a very organized manner.
