IN times when pirates have turned to the information superhighways, stolen foreign cars is still big business in Pakistan—a country where the bazaars are flooded with illegal goods. The thriving racket in smuggled vehicles, moreover, has the blessings of the same government agencies whose function it is to check it.
Vehicles worth billions of rupees arrive regularly at various dry ports and cities of the country. In the dry ports, the vehicles come in labelled as 'scrap' from Singapore, Dubai and the UK. In some cases, brand new buses, trucks, coaches, cars, Land Cruisers and Mitsubishi's Pajeros are shipped in containers in one piece via Iran and a landlocked Afghanistan—misusing transit facilities provided to the latter.
Bedford trucks and buses come in from the UK while Japanese vehicles like Nissan, Hino, Isuzu and Toyota are imported as junk iron from Singapore. Dubai is the source for luxury jeeps like Land Cruisers, Pajeros and Shoguns which creep into Baluchistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas through Iran. These are mostly stolen from the UK and are right-hand drives. Others come in from Afghanistan.
An entire network of importers and agents who buy whole containers are helped on in this roaring trade by officials in the customs, the anti-smuggling directorate, excise and taxation and the registration department. Given the scale at which this racket operates, billions of rupees are lost by the country's exchequer every month through evasion of customs duty and other taxes.
The 'scrap' business is the most convenient way of minting money. The modus operandi is simple: dismantle the vehicles, pack the various parts in different containers, put them on a ship to Pakistan and enjoy safe sailing through the Pakistan customs. No questions on how brand-new parts are categorised as scrap.
For that touch of realism, the chassis, body, seats, dashboards, doors and engines are carefully separated and placed in different containers being booked simultaneously for destinations in Pakistan. As soon as the 'scrap' arrives at Pakistani dry ports like Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, importers sell the entire container to the agents.
The responsibility of the anti-smuggling staff ends here. For each container, they allegedly charge Rs 10,000 and keep their eyes and mouths shut. The agents then take the 'scrap' to specified auto workshops in various cities. Scrap goes in and—hey presto!—within 48 hours a brand new vehicle comes out. The next role in the script belongs, again, to officialdom—the departments of customs and excise and taxation. By arranging false toll receipts, invoices and papers of vehicles auctioned by the state agencies, fake registration documents are prepared.
Of course, the buyer has an absolute choice when it comes to the place of registration. Only, the 'fee' varies. For example, to get a registration number of Islamabad or big cities like Lahore and Karachi, it is expensive. Islamabad's twin city, Rawalpindi, is cheaper. If the buyer is really penny-wise, documents can be obtained from remote places like Gilgit, Gazdar or Mianwali and Haripur.
The racket is thriving in Rawalpindi, Peshawar, and Darra Adam Khel, the tribal town in the North-Western Frontier Province famous for its gun-making. Documents can also be had from PoK. All one needs is to strike the right connection. The 'fee' also depends on the vehicle type and model. Registration for trucks and buses costs Rs 30,000-40,000, cars Rs 50,000-70,000, Pajeros and Land Cruisers Rs 100,000-200,000.
As for stolen vehicles from the UK, the route runs via Bandar Abbas and Taftan in Iran with destinations like Quetta, Chaman, Razmak, Waziristan, Parachinar, and Sadda in Kurram Agency. The vehicles also find a safe passage via Afghanistan. These are all right-hand drives, which are of little use in Afghanistan.
The trade has grown so big that even other countries are taking note of it. In the UK, a television film has been made on the subject. Estimates are that almost 90 per cent of the heavy vehicles in Pakistan are illegal. The Bedford company is said to have stopped manufacturing trucks and buses in 1988, but brand-new products from their line can be seen on roads here. Almost all the Mazda mini-buses plying between Rawalpindi and Islamabad, and coaches and cars like Toyota and Nissan elsewhere are said to be cent per cent 'number two'—as they are commonly referred to locally. Ditto foreign-assembled Isuzu, Hino and Nissan.
Once fake documents are obtained, it's difficult for an ordinary policeman to question their genuineness. The racketeers do their job well, and the registration department has its records in place. What is unexplained is how these vehicles come and where the import and customs records are. Pakistan banned reconditioned cars in 1994. But the Finance Ministry and the Central Board of Revenue and Finance don't seem to be losing sleep over the fact that such a huge number of second-hand vehicles keep emerging from nowhere.
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