PESHAWAR: As the federal government has introduced border management system with Afghanistan to regularise cross-border movement, the flow of non-custom paid vehicles from across the border continues unabated.

Notified checkposts and unfrequented routes along the border are used to smuggle non-custom paid vehicles into the tribal borderlands and then driven to Malakand division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to sources.

Customs laws have not been fully implemented in Fata and Malakand division. Therefore, these two regions have become major hubs of the smuggled vehicles in the country.

Registration of non-custom paid vehicles major challenge for provincial govt

Tribal areas and Malakand have witnessed unprecedented increase in the number of vehicles during the past three years, because of “soft border policy” for the smugglers.

The registration of non-custom paid vehicles in Malakand and Fata has become a major challenge for the provincial government. The issue came under discussion in the provincial apex committee meeting following security agencies reports that unregistered vehicles were used in terrorist activities and the government should work out a registration plan.

Well placed sources said that the committee had unanimously decided to start proper registration of smuggled vehicles in Malakand, but the provincial government retracted from its earlier stance when political groups including the ruling parties started agitation against extension of the Customs Act to the area. Security establishment has serious reservations over the retraction of the provincial government on the policy.

“The provincial government could not sustain political pressure on the issue only for six days. What else can we expect from the government,” said a senior security official.

During background interviews, the car dealers said that notified checkposts along the Afghan border and main highways in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were used to bring smuggled vehicles to the bargain centres in Fata and Malakand.

The Afghan car dealers have set up sale centres in the towns close to the border in Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost and Paktika provinces owing to growing demand of non-custom paid vehicles in Fata and Malakand.

A source said that Maskani in Lower Dir district had become a hub of smuggled vehicles where dealers from Bajaur, Mohmand agencies and districts of Malakand division were buying non-custom paid vehicles.

A dealer in Khyber Agency said that smugglers charged up to Rs60,000 to take a non-custom paid vehicle from Jamrud near Karkhano Market, Peshawar, to Sher Garh in Malakand district.

He said that a vehicle was smuggled from Nangarhar province of Afghanistan to Jamrud in Khyber Agency at the rate of Rs70,000. He said that smugglers were using Bazaar Zakhakhel route and Shalman Khule route or ferried the vehicles in small boats in the Kabul River at Malagori.

Despite deployment of paramilitary force and khasadars at several checkposts and checkpoints along the roads, vehicles are easily smuggled from Afghanistan to Jamrud and then proceed to Malakand division and down parts of the country.

“All non-custom paid vehicles are transported to Malakand via motorway or Grand Trunk Road passing through Peshawar valley with the connivance of police and other agencies,” said the dealer.

Frontier Corps, which was raised primarily for the security of western border, has been given anti-smuggling powers. The force backed by Khasadar and Levies is manning trade routes, checkposts and unfrequented routes along the border and main roads passing through different tribal agencies to check smuggling of goods and movement of non-custom paid vehicles from Afghanistan too.

Despite heavy deployment and checking of documents by police, Levies and Khasadar personnel at different checkposts in tribal area and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, non-custom paid vehicles are smuggled to Malakand easily.

Dealers alleged that they were paying handsome amount to the personnel of the law enforcement agencies to pass non-custom paid vehicles through the checkposts in Peshawar and Mardan divisions.

The police stations concerned are locally registering smuggled vehicles in all seven districts of Malakand division where according to the officials over 120,000 vehicles have been registered while around 150,000 additional vehicles have been put on display at the bargain centres.

Situation in tribal agencies is chaotic. Few years ago political authorities had introduced local registration of non-custom paid vehicles at the agency level. The owners of vehicles paid a token of money to the political authorities as registration fee and they were allotted local number plates. Now it has been withdrawn.

An official in Parachinar, Kurram Agency said that 10,000 vehicles were locally registered from 2012 to 2014. The number of vehicles has rapidly increased in Kurram since the administration relaxed rules that multiplied pressure on roads in the valley.

Vehicles are brought from Sheher-i-Nou, a small town in Afghanistan via Kherlachi and Borki, border towns in Kurram Agency. Sheher-i-Nou is the nearest market for the car dealers after Khost.

Smugglers charged Rs18,000 for bringing a car from Sheher-i-Nou to Parachinar, said a driver, who recently visited bargain centres in Afghanistan. He had purchased a Japan assembled 2400CC car at Rs460,000.

“A dealer from Swat purchased 16 vehicles in Sheher-i-Nou,” he said, adding that smugglers gave surety to the owners to deliver vehicles at their desired places in Pakistan. “Smugglers strike deals with the officials in advance to provide safe passage to bring vehicles from Afghanistan to Parachinar,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2016