Islamabad International Airport is emerging as a major point of concern for drug smuggling, with Pakistan Customs reporting two major narcotics seizures involving nearly Rs. 1 billion worth of suspected drugs within just nine days.
In the latest case, Customs officials seized approximately 24 kilograms of suspected cannabis from a foreign passenger arriving at Islamabad International Airport. The estimated high-end retail value of the recovered material is around Rs. 310 million.
Sources said Customs officials received intelligence about a possible attempt to smuggle narcotics through an international arrival. A special vigilance team was deployed under the supervision of an Assistant Collector, following which a foreign passenger reportedly arriving from Thailand was intercepted.
A search conducted according to legal procedures resulted in the recovery of the suspected cannabis. Customs officials took the material into custody and registered an FIR against the accused under relevant provisions of Pakistani law.
The latest seizure comes only days after another major narcotics recovery at the same airport.
On September 26, Customs officials seized approximately 35 kilograms of suspected hashish from the luggage of a passenger arriving on Thai Airways flight TG-349. Authorities estimated the value of the recovered material at more than Rs. 660 million.
The two airport seizures have a combined estimated value of around Rs. 970 million.
Rs. 5.41 Billion Drug Seizure on Islamabad-Lahore Motorway
ProPakistani reported earlier that on October 2, Islamabad Customs seized approximately 1,200 kilograms of suspected charas or hashish from a vehicle during an intelligence-based operation on the M-2 Motorway.
Agents also recovered around 100 kilograms of poppy seeds. The international market value of the seized narcotics was estimated at approximately Rs. 5.40 billion.
Including the vehicle and other recovered items, the total value of the seizure was placed at around Rs. 5.41 billion.
Taken together, the two airport cases and the M-2 operation involve approximately 1,259 kilograms of suspected cannabis or hashish-related material, along with the separately recovered poppy seeds.
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