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The increase in excise duty in February 2023 has led to an exponential increase in smuggled and counterfeit cigarettes. photo: Reuters
ISLAMABAD:
A subcommittee under the Senate Standing Committee on Domestic Policy discussed the theft of 2,828 cartons of cigarettes from a warehouse in FBR on Thursday.
The meeting, chaired by Senator Saifullah Abro, received a briefing from officials of FIA and FBR on the incident.
FIA officials informed the committee that drivers entering and leaving the warehouse are normally issued passports. They said the statements of officers whose names emerged during the investigation had been recorded.
Officials further said that on the day the cigarettes were moved, a passport was not issued to the driver. They added that the shift of duty was also absent during the transfer of the goods and nothing was recorded.
FIA officials told the committee that no CCTV footage of the incident was available.
FBR officials stated that the department had rented the warehouse and there were no surveillance cameras installed at the facility.
“We had verbally informed all the officers about the SOPs,” the FBR officials said.
