Foreigner Woman Detained with 1900gm Cocaine at Karachi Airport

According to ARY News, a foreign woman was detained at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport after 1,900 grams of cocaine were found in her luggage.

A foreign woman, a citizen of Uganda, was detained by customs officers when they discovered 1,900 grams of cocaine concealed in a bag’s covert compartments. The foreigner took PK-214 from Uganda to Karachi before continuing to Dubai. According to the Customs representative, the value of the cocaine that was confiscated on the international market exceeded Rs45 million. A case was filed against the foreign national, and more research is being done.

At Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport in April, customs agents thwarted an attempt to smuggle in foreign currency. 65,000 US dollars, or roughly Rs12 million, had been found in the luggage of a female traveler headed for Doha. The officer said that the money had been seized and that the passenger had been granted boarding.

In another incident on January 2022, Ubaid Siddiqui and his sister Aqsa Siddiqui were traveling to Dubai on flight EK-605, which was due to take off at 77:05 am when they were stopped by Pakistan Customs personnel in a joint operation with the Airport Security Force (ASF) at around 44:10 am on Saturday, according to Qamar Thalho of the Pakistan Customs. Officials searched the siblings’ luggage at the Joint Examination Counter in the international departure area of Jinnah International Airport after getting a tip that they were carrying foreign currency. They discovered 616,000 euros (roughly Rs120 million), which had been deftly hidden in hidden compartments of the luggage. The two were detained, and an FIR was filed by applicable legal rules.

Up to 2,000 passengers departing from Punjab airports on internal and international flights each day are required to declare the amount of cash they are carrying, according to airport sources. Each businessperson is permitted to bring up to $10,000 on an international trip, while each passenger is permitted to bring $5,000. According to the sources, officials believed that dozens of people made virtually weekly trips from the airports to Dubai and that they could be identified using the official records. The majority of them are not connected to any official businesses. According to reports, the authorities believe that among these regular travelers are those who are being sent by money changers in Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, and Multan to smuggle money outside quickly.

In response to the sharp decline in the value of the rupee relative to other currencies, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has increased oversight to stop currency smuggling. In a statement released on Sunday, FBR Chairman Asim Ahmad said that customs field units needed to increase their vigilance to ensure that passengers were being watched to prevent currency smuggling. Chairman FBR has given instructions to Customs field formations for boosting vigilance at airports and land border stations, furthering its policy of zero tolerance against money smuggling.