RAWALPINDI: A special team of Regional Tax Officer (RTO) Rawalpindi conducted a raid on a fake cigarette manufacturing factory on Jhangi Syedan Peshawar Road, seizing machinery and large quantities of raw material.

A senior official said that following information that a fake cigarette factory was operating in the Jhangi Syedan area, a raiding party led by assistant director RTO Shujaat Ali Khan was constituted to unearth the illegal factory. He said the raiding party, led by Assistant Director Shujaat Ali Khan, conducted a successful raid in the Peshawar Jhangi Syedan area of Rawalpindi and unearthed a clandestine fake cigarette manufacturing factory.

The operation wasexecuted on the directives ofChief Commissioner Regional Tax Office (RTO) Rawalpindi Tahmina Aamer, under the vigilant supervision of Riaz Khan Additional Commissioner Headquarters.

The illegal factory, skillfully concealed in the basement of an unsuspecting location, was involved in the production of counterfeit cigarettes, mimicking various popular brands, said the senior official.

The raid resulted in the confiscation of a significant number of fake cigarettes and machinery valued at crores of rupees.

The seized machinery includes aHLP packing machine weighing 2 tonnes, a Mark 8 Making Machine weighing 2.2 tonnes, a wrapper machine with a weight of half a tonne, and a bundle machine also registering at half a tonne.

These high-capacity machines were utilised in the large-scale production of fake cigarettes, contributing to the widespread distribution of counterfeit goods across Pakistan.

The official said that this operation sent a strong message about the commitment of the Inland Revenue Service to crackdown on tax evasion and the sale of illegal cigarettes across the country.

The Chief Commissioner RTO Rawalpindi Tahmina Aamer applauded the successful operation conducted by the team led by AD Shujaat Ali Khan.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2024