KARACHI: The Special Court for Customs, Taxation & Anti-Smuggling has sentenced a man to a total of eight years in prison on two counts for possessing US and Canadian dollars beyond the permissible limit during his travel with his family to Canada.
Special Judge Dr Shaban Waheed sentenced accused Raheel Dhannani to five and three years in jail for committing offences under the customs act.
According to state prosecutor Naimatullah Soomro, the accused holding the Canadian passport was travelling with his family on Jan 24, 2023 from Karachi to Vancouver, Canada, via Bangkok.
The prosecution claimed that when the customs officials asked him to declare whether he was carrying any foreign currency, the accused replied in the negative.
However, when his luggage and bags were checked, the customs officials allegedly found $111,400 and Canadian dollars 31,425 in his possession.
On the other hand, the defence counsel contended that no declaration form was issued to the accused, no CCTV footage was produced, no independent witness was associated and no written declaration or written refusal was brought on record.
The counsel further argued that the accused was intercepted before completion of departure formalities and had not crossed the stage beyond which lawful declaration could not be made.
However, the court rejected the defence’s contentions and noted that once the accused entered the international departure stream carrying foreign currency far exceeding the legally permissible limit, without making a “lawful declaration despite being specifically questioned by the customs officials, the offence had crossed the stage of mere preparation and entered the realm of attempt”.
“The accused was an experienced international traveller; he possessed complete knowledge of the customs formalities; he was carrying foreign currency vastly exceeding the limit prescribed under the state bank notification; he denied carrying such currency when questioned by the customs officials; and no satisfactory lawful explanation was offered for attempting to take such a huge amount abroad without complying with the mandatory legal requirements,” the court observed.
It added: “These circumstances, viewed cumulatively rather than in isolation, exclude the possibility of inadvertence or bona fide mistake and unmistakably point towards a conscious and deliberate attempt to export foreign currency in contravention of Customs Act, 1969.”
The prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt, the court observed. “The attempted export of foreign currency in violation of the statutory restrictions attracts the definition contained in Section 2(s) of the Customs Act, and the prosecution has successfully proved that the accused knowingly attempted to export smuggled goods contrary to law.”
Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2026