ISLAMABAD:Federal Investigation Agency’s commercial banking circle on Monday, in continuation of the ongoing campaign against the hoarding of foreign currency, the Federal Investigation Agency’s commercial banking circle raided illegal money exchange dealers in Rawalpindi and arrested four people.
The team led by Assistant Director Mehak Gul raided paracha traders in Rawalpindi and arrested four accused involved in illegal currency exchange businesses without having a license.
The FIA team registered a case under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act against Abdur Rahman Parach, Bilal Kaleem, Tauseef Ahmad, and Muhammad Naveed.
The accused failed to satisfy the team on the recovered foreign currency worth 3 million.
Earlier, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Multan Zone took action against elements involved in currency smuggling, arrested a suspect, and recovered one lac Saudi Riyals from his possession.
The team, under the supervision of Deputy Director Dera Ghazi Khan Zahid Mehmood raided and arrested the accused while conducting a raid at the Ghazi Ghat check post.
The suspect, named Muhammad Aleem, a resident of Okara, was traveling to Quetta. The team, on a tip-off, raided and arrested him during the search of the bus.
According to preliminary investigation, the accused had to smuggle foreign currency from Quetta to Iran and Afghanistan.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Peshawar zone during crackdown on illegal currency and dollar smuggling operations, arrested 127 suspects and recovered a staggering sum of Rs. 679 million during last three months.
On the directives of Director Nisar Ahmad Khan Tanoli, the FIA teams have initiated 109 cases against individuals involved in dollar smuggling and illegal currency trading in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region.
During these operations, 127 suspects were apprehended, and cases have been registered against 109 individuals.
The seized currency included not only dollars but also various foreign currencies.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Customs also seized essential commodities worth Rs2.25 billion over the past fortnight in an intensified anti-smuggling crackdown across the country.
Sugar and urea are smuggled from Pakistan, whereas POL is smuggled into the country through unfrequented routes spanning the bordering areas of Afghanistan and Iran.
The operations were conducted in the Quetta, D.I. Khan, Multan, Karachi, Sargodha, and Lahore regions. The major seized essential commodities included sugar, urea, POL, and Pak currency, as well as tires, black tea, betel nuts, vehicles, iron, steel, and other goods.
On September 2, in the Balochistan region, Customs Enforcement-Quetta seized 1,637 tons of sugar worth approximately Rs1.0 billion from smugglers in a convoy of 15 trucks.
This was followed by a massive seizure of smuggled goods and vehicles, worth Rs519 million, on Daraban-Darazinda Road DIK on 3, 2023 in collaboration with local police, and 218,000 litres of smuggled POL and diesel, valuing approximately Rs137.6 million, by Customs Enforcement-D.I. Khan.