20000202

Bid to smuggle

heroin through

mail foiled

KARACHI: The preventive staff of Karachi Customs has successfully foiled repeated narcotics and contraband smuggling attempts made through the international mail originating from various places.

The smugglers had tried to use the essential postal service offered by the Pakistan Post Offices for smuggling of heroin, charas and other contraband items, a customs statement said here on Tuesday.

On November 8, 15 and 22, 1999, ordinary (unregistered) mail envelopes/letters posted from Karachi and Lahore consigned for Taiwan and Tanzania were intercepted, which led to the recovery of 15 grams, 38 grams and 08 grams of brown heroin powder respectively. On November 25, the examination of an envelope from the segregated mail of the International Mail Office Shahra-e-Faisal led to the recovery of 25 grams of charas.

On November 20, 1999, two parcels containing 107 furred skins and 147 tails of small wild animals of Eurasian origin destined for USA were seized in view of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) provisions aimed at stopping the mass scale killing of the endangered species.

Again on November 26, 1999 two ordinary letters, one each by Shafiq Qureshi and Faheem Mohammed consigned for Tanzania were examined by the Customs Staff, which led to the recovery of 29 grams and 33 grams of brown heroin powder respectively.

On December 1, 1999 two parcels booked from Peshawar for Australia were examined, which led to the recovery of 880 grams of white heroin powder concealed in four books. Yet again three more attempts made on December 29, 30 and 31 were foiled by the officials leading to the recovery of 690 grams of white heroin powder from a post parcel consigned for US and 35 grams and 27 grams from ordinary mail envelopes destined for Tanzania.

In January 2000, three attempts of smuggling were thwarted by the vigilant officials. On the first day of the new millennium 33 (few of them rare) antique coins concealed in a Watch Game and The Economist diary 1999 were seized from one parcel and envelope booked from Islamabad and destined for Canada.

The coins have been certified by the National Museum of Pakistan to be Greek, Scythian, Indian and Afghan period/origin.

On January 14 35 grams of brown heroin powder and 30 grams of charas concealed in a statue were recovered and seized from a post parcel booked from Quetta and consigned for Slovenia.

On January 29 2000, 65 grams of the killer drug (brown heroin powder) were seized from an ordinary mail envelope destined for United Kingdom.ÑAPP