PESHAWAR, Dec 4: The customs authorities seized a record quantity of smuggled goods at the Kund checkpoint in a three-hour operation and impounded 10 buses and two cars used for the purpose, an official source said on Thursday.

The customs department had deputed extra force at the Kund checkpoint in the Nowshera district, said Amjadur Rehman, the deputy collector of anti-smuggling cell.

He said smugglers had accelerated their activities just before the commencement of the three-day Tableeghi congregation at Lahore. On Wednesday night, he continued, the customs personnel seized the smuggled goods worth more than Rs10 million from 10 buses and two cars which were part of a caravan of the faithful going to attend the congregation starting form Dec 7.

Sensing the search, he said, two of the buses tried to speed away but the customs squads chased the vehicles and forced them to stop by bursting their tyres with gun shots.

However, Mr Rehman said, none of the smugglers could be arrested. He explained that they jumped off the buses and got in the escorting cars driven by their accomplices.

From each vehicles, he said, more than Rs3 million worth of foreign goods were recovered. “It was the largest seizure in an operation that lasted only three-hours,” the official claimed.

The smuggled goods included cloths, black tea, cigarettes and electronic appliances, he said.