By:Naveed Ahmad Khan
As part of the ongoing crackdown against illicit tobacco trade in light of the directions of the Director General, Dr.Bashirullah Khan Marwat, the Directorate of Intelligence & Investigation-Inland Revenue, Peshawar intercepted a truck near Mattani Byepass and recovered from it 216 cartons of counterfeit brands of cigarettes, which were clandestinely been transported to Rawalpindi via Motorway. The counterfeit brands include Capstan, Gold Leaf and Morven etc. which belong to be the sole domain of the multi-national companies thus paying huge taxes to the Govt. Value of the duty and taxes thus evaded through illegal movement is estimated at Rs.4,555,440/- in addition to the own value of the goods at Rs.2,268,000/-. Since July 2020 onwards, it is 9th seizure by the Directorate in a row as a result of which 5,700,000 sticks of counterfeit/non-duty paid cigarettes along-with vehicles have been seized for initiation of legal proceedings under the law. The Director l&I-IR Peshawar has hinted at intensifying operation against businesses that operate without being registered with the FBR thus causing huge revenue loss to the exchequer.