FBR seals ‘clandestine cigarette-making unit in Chakwal

Business Recorder reported that the Federal Board of Revenue sealed a hidden cigarette production site in Chakwal district during an operation against illicit tobacco manufacturing. Enforcement teams from the FBR's Intelligence and Investigation Directorate in Islamabad carried out the raid alongside the Inland Revenue Enforcement Network, acting on credible intelligence. The premises, belonging to Hunter Tobacco SMC Pvt Ltd near Dharabi on Kallar Kahar Road, were searched.

Investigators established that the site was making cigarettes without Track & Trace stamps and had never been connected to that system, a requirement for tobacco manufacturers. Officials took away about 12,600 kilograms of raw tobacco, enough for roughly 630,000 packets, along with filter rods, cigarette paper, aluminium foil and packaging. The seized items were moved to official storage before the site was sealed.

The authority put the combined economic impact at Rs211 million, of which Rs90 million reflects potential tax evasion from cigarettes that could have been sold from the seized leaf. The FBR called unpaid duties and Track & Trace non-compliance serious violations and said criminal proceedings will follow once the probe is complete.