ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Wednesday expressed the government’s resolve to act strictly against elements involved in the smuggling of commodities, as well as their facilitators.

Co-chairing a meeting with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on a work plan to control smuggling of wheat, sugar, fertiliser and other essential commodities, the interior minister directed the

authorities concerned to ensure the implementation of track and trace system on essential commodities so that the elements involved in smuggling of these items could be caught.

He also directed authorities to prevent excessive supply of essential commodities to the border districts.

The minister said strict action will be taken against the officers and staff involved in smuggling.

For this purpose, he stressed the need for launching joint operations and intelligence sharing among the institutions.

An official told Dawn that smuggling of essential commodities plays a key role in inflation.

He said keeping in view the frequent shortages of basic food items, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered a countrywide crackdown on smuggling, particularly of foodstuffs.

Conceding that smuggling of food items out of the country triggered an increase in their prices, and as a result the common man suffered, he said the government was committed to curbing the menace of smuggling.

The official said the relevant customs authorities had already been directed to deploy all their resou­rces to check smuggling of essential food items in an efficient manner.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2023