LAHORE: Pakistani customs authorities have filed a criminal complaint alleging that a bonded shipping container was surreptitiously swapped during transit from Karachi to Lahore, allowing dutiable goods to be removed from customs control without payment of duty.
According to a First Information Report registered as FIR No. 03/2026, the consignment — declared as printed and misprinted paper rolls and sheets weighing roughly 25.55 metric tons — departed Port Qasim on Aug. 22, 2026, bound for the Railway Dry Port in Mughalpura, Lahore. It was carried under bond by M/s Pak Shaheen Cargo Services on vehicle AABZ-878.
Suspicions arose when the container arrived at the Lahore dry port on Aug. 27. Inspectors noticed the container had been freshly painted and that its identification numbers were misaligned. A subsequent X-ray scan conducted at the NLC Dry Port in Thokar Niaz Baig revealed a cargo profile materially different from the scan taken at Port Qasim, despite the container bearing the same number.
Customs officials said the Port Qasim image showed goods packed in cartons, stacked uniformly to the container roof with consistent spacing between stacks. The Lahore scan, by contrast, showed irregular, uneven stacking with no distinct carton-like appearance.
A joint examination on Oct. 12 by customs, the Directorate of Transit Trade and a Punjab Forensic Science Authority team uncovered further discrepancies: a 630-kilogram weight difference between the transport note and the Mughalpura scale; a shipper seal that appeared identical in number but differed in color and physical markings from the one photographed at Port Qasim; and a CSC safety approval plate that appeared to have been tampered with.
Authorities also compared a mobile-phone photograph of the container taken at Port Qasim — received via WhatsApp — with the physical container in Lahore. The Karachi image showed partial background paint and rust marks around the container number; the Lahore container bore a new, crisp number with visible overpainting and no rust.
Both seals removed during the joint examination — a Customs bolt seal numbered 3661077 and shipper seal AE4404970 — have been sent to the Punjab Forensic Science Authority for analysis. Results are pending.
The complaint names the owners and directors of importer M/s Kaybee International; Muhammad Ibrahim, proprietor of clearing agency EQA Corporation; Muhammad Abdullah, director of Pak Shaheen Bonded Cargo; NLC Smart Solutions (Pvt) Ltd.; vehicle owner Shabir Hussain Awan; driver Muhammad Nadeem; Mirza Muhtashim; and unidentified others.
Authorities allege the suspects conspired to substitute the container or its bonded cargo during transshipment, thereby removing goods from customs control without payment of duties and taxes. The complaint invokes sections 32, 32A, 79 and 121 of the Customs Act, 1969, punishable under clauses 14, 14A, 43 and 63 of Section 156(I).
Customs said further investigation is needed to identify the perpetrators and recover the diverted goods. The complaint was filed by Inspector Rao Kamran Nasir of the Collectorate of Customs Appraisement (East), Lahore.
