Regional Tax Office (RTO), Peshawar has seized 150,000 sticks of counterfeit and non-duty paid cigarettes of various brands during a raid in Karkhano Market, Hayatabad.
The RTO Tobacco Monitoring Squad of was headed by Syed Zubair Shah, deputy commissioner Inland Revenue.
Similarly, the squad also carried out raids against local cigarette manufacturers and seized 28 packrites of local counterfeit cigarettes in District Swabi. Each packrite was comprised of 10,000 cigarette sticks.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Commissioner Income Tax Hameed-ur-Rehman confirmed the seizure of counterfeit and non-duty paid cigarettes. He said that the squad had also seized a Suzuki van fully loaded with non-duty paid filter rods.
The cigarettes seized from Karkhano Market were shifted to the regional office while the seized counterfeit cigarettes and Suzuki van had been shifted to Mardan Office.
Zubair Shah said that they had sought the documents of the both the vehicle sand filter rods, but despite a passage of the deadline they were not presented to him.
