Wrongful declaration scam uncovered in Karachi

The Directorate General, Intelligence & Investigation (DGI&I)’s Regional Office in Karachi, Pakistan, has detected some 363 containers with 1,804,000 liters of high speed diesel, used engine oil and lube base oil, which were wrongly declared as petroleum residue. The shipment was cleared at Port Qasim through the Pakistan Customs Computerized System (PaCCS). A Recorder report said that, initially, the scam was exposed by the DGI&I Multan, which seized some 25 containers declared as petroleum residue at the Multan Dry Port on April 15, 2009, and filed a case against two importers. However, on further investigation, it was found that more containers of the same wrongly declared items were ready to be either transshipped to the upcountry dry ports for clearance, or were being cleared through the Model Customs Collectorate of PaCCS in Karachi. (August 9, 2009)