RAWALPINDI: Remanded for two days were a passenger, a Special Protection Unit constable, and a flight steward for Pakistan International Airlines who were detained by customs officials at Islamabad International Airport on Friday.
was informed by a senior customs official that the three suspects were detained in two separate cases after more than 50 iPhones were recovered from them. They will be created in the exceptional court (customs, tax collection and against pirating) on Tuesday after fulfillment of their two-day remand.
The three individuals, including the constable of , a unit of the Punjab police, were detained after the customs officers at the airport stopped two attempts to smuggle more than fifty iPhones.
The customs authorities filed separate cases against them under the relevant sections of the customs act, and investigations were launched.
Adnan Waleed, inspector customs collectorate Islamabad, filed an FIR stating that Collector Customs Zaib Gul Shabbir received information that a Thursday flight from Sharjah to Islamabad would attempt to smuggle a large number of iPhones.
He stated that passengers would be monitored by a team at the IIA Wardah Hajra under the direction of the Deputy Collector Customs. A man wearing a police uniform and carrying a handbag attempted to escape from the international arrivals hall as the passengers’ customs clearance began.
The customs personnel stopped the man on suspicion. According to the authorities, when his handbag was scanned, images of cellphones were found.
He gave the name of a passenger who lived in Peshawar and was near the baggage belt at the time when he was asked who owned the luggage. A grey handbag and a carton that the passenger was carrying were searched by customs personnel.
The customs personnel recovered 41 mobile phones during the search, including 36 iPhone Pro Maxs and 33 boxes of mobile phones from the carton. Both the passengers and the goods’ legal ownership could not be established.
The specialists said the contribution of different accessories of the suspects still up in the air during the examination. The worth of the held onto merchandise was assessed at Rs18 million.
The customs officers at the IIA seized 15 iPhones from a passenger who turned out to be a PIA flight steward in another seizure.
According to a senior customs official, the seizure occurred while a PIA flight was scanning passengers’ baggage from Toronto (Canada).
As indicated by customs authorities, the suspect was not on the job and was going as a common traveler on a vacationer visa. The seizure was estimated to be worth Rs5.1 million.
When asked about the employee’s detention, a PIA spokesperson stated that the individual was traveling from Canada to Islamabad on a visit visa.
He claimed that while he was being checked, his most recent cellphones were found, which led to his detention by customs officials.
According to the spokesman, despite the fact that he traveled on his own, the management of PIA has served him with a show-cause notice because the management has no sympathy for any employee who is involved in illegal activity.
