FIA Raids On Karachi’s Saddar Electronics Market, Arrests Two Retailers
The Federal Investigation Agency’s State Bank Circle (SBC) and Anti-Corruption Circle on Saturday recently led an operation against mafias involved in the illegal hawala and hundi business. During the raid, FIA arrested two people from Karachi for smuggling and selling stolen mobile phones. The suspects have not been named, but they were arrested during a raid on Saddar Electronics Market in Karachi. According to the Officials, the raid was a part of the national policy against the smuggling and illegal purchase of dollars and hawala & hundi transfers. FIA conducted operations on directions of FIA Director Zaim Iqbal Sheikh.
FIA Arrests Two People During Raid On Karachi’s Saddar Electronics Market
The raid was conducted under the supervision of Deputy Director Anti-Corruption Circle Javed Baloch. Reports claim that the FIA team raided the city’s main electronic market located in Saddar. Moreover, they seized 250 smuggled and stolen mobile phones worth more than Rs10 million and arrested two people. According to the officials, the IMEI numbers of smuggled and stolen mobile phones are replaced by innovative software purchased from abroad. Moreover, the data of mobile phone numbers already registered in PTA’s system has also been recovered from the suspects.
The suspects have reportedly caused a loss of more than Rs 50 million to the PTA through fraud. Moreover, the recovered mobile phones are said to be stolen from the United Kingdom. The Anti-Corruption Circle has registered a case against the suspects and initiated an investigation.
The officials stated that the FIA’s SBC formed a raiding party against hawala operators. Afterward, a team conducted a raid on Wahab Arcade on MA Jinnah Road as well. They arrested three suspects and seized $32,700, 15,000 Saudi riyals, 800 United Arab Emirates dirhams, Rs98,882,500, five mobile phones containing evidence of hawala transfers, and a bunch of registers and ledgers that had hawala entries. An FIR is also registered against the suspects under the amended Foreign Exchange Regulation Amendment Act 2020. Under sections 34 and 109, the PPC is registered against Mohammad Shahid, Muhammad Hussain, and Abdul Rasheed. Further investigations are underway.
According to some previous reports, Pakistan Customs also prevented a significant smuggling attempt at Jinnah Terminal, Karachi Airport, intercepting a cache of valuable iPhone sets worth approximately Rs130 million. The Deputy Director of Customs Intelligence and customs officials successfully thwarted the operation involving 168 smuggled iPhones. These iPhones were seized from passengers arriving in Karachi on an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah.
