Daily Times

PESHAWAR: In a latest operation carried out by Customs Intelligence and Investigation (I&I), nine million counterfeit cigarettes were seized from the Chugal Pura area, near Ring Road Bridge, Peshawar. Officials of the Intelligence Directorate, after verifying the credibility of the information that counterfeit production units are present in the area, conducted a raid at the production facility and were able to successfully seize nine cartons of multinational and local brands of cigarettes being produced in the area. Some of the counterfeit cigarette brands seized from the storage of this production unit included popular brands such as Gold Leaf, Red & White, Morven, Capstan, Gold Flake and Pine. The seizure report has been forward to the Directorate General of Customs Intelligence and Investigation, while further investigation in order to control and seize counterfeit cigarette manufacturers has been initiated. Counterfeit cigarettes are a great menace to a nation as their production not only damages the economy of the country but also gravely harms the public due to usage of substandard materials in production of such brand.

Published in Daily Times, August 15^th 2017.