Seizure of 11 trucks carrying cigarettes: Panel grills customs officials for linking two senators

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary body on Monday grilled customs officials over linking two senators with the seizure of 11 trucks carrying cigarettes and directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the matter.

The Sub-Committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, which met under the convenorship of Senator Saifullah Abro, directed FIA to investigate the reason behind the airing of a news report on the media linking Senator Faisal Saleem Rahmanand Senator Dilawar Khan with the seized cigarettes near Chakriand Balkasaron the Motorway during last month.

The committee observed that after the previous meeting discussed the seizure of 11 loaded trucks on the motorway, an official press release and handout were issued the very next day across various TV channels and media platforms targeting the Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control and other Committee members.

The committee also expressed anger over the absence of the Secretary Minister of Interior, in the meeting. The Joint Secretary informed the committee that a new Interior Secretary had recently been appointed and would attend the next meeting.

Referring to the recent statement of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in which he stated that the existing governance system has collapsed, saying the minister had stated that everything has been destroyed. The Secretary Interior must attend the meeting, he said.

The committee directed the FIA to record statements from officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Motorway Police and take proper legal action against the people responsible.

Abro directed the FIA to submit a report before the committee by evening and identify the owner of the seized cigarettes.

Customs officials said that the seized trucks are in the custody of customs. No one has been nominated in the First Information Report (FIR) registered regarding the matter, they said, adding that customs had informed motorway police regarding the trucks after receiving information that the cigarettes were smuggled.

Senator Talha Mehmood said that this matter did not fall under the jurisdiction of customs and it is the domain of Inland Revenue.

Customs officials said that the seized cigarettes might have come from Afghanistan. To this, Senator Talha Mehmood asked how it came from Afghanistan as the border is closed.

They further said that Motorway Police had issued a press release and stated it seized cigarettes worth Rs2.2 billion, the value mentioned in the Customs case. The FIR registered by custom the value of seized cigarettes was Rs4 billion.

During the meeting, the parliamentary body summoned the Inspector General (IG) Motorway Police Sultan Ahmad Ch, who later arrived in the meeting and said that Motorway Police only stop vehicles following the information provided by the relevant agencies and hand them over to the concerned authorities.

The committee directed the Ministry of Interior to take action under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) against the TV channel that aired the news report. The committee summoned the media organisation’s owner in the next meeting.

The committee questioned the legal basis of the FIR registered by Customs authorities, noting that 11 truck drivers were arrested and produced before the court after a six-day delay, prompting the Committee to summon the inspector responsible for drafting the flawed FIR to appear in person.

Senators Muhammad Talha Mehmood, Umer Farooq, and Dilawar Khan, as well as Member Admin FBR, Chief Commissioner, IG Motorway Police, and senior officials from the FIA and Customs also attended the meeting.—FAZAL SHER

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026