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Task Force plans fresh swoop on smugglers

By Farid Ahmed
The anU;pmuylingtaab— force has dec^^Lto^swoop down again on both sjmigglcrs and smuggled goods alliotct the country from this month, according to a task force source.
The drive had moved at a snail's pace during the last two months.
A high government official connected with the task force said that the anti-smuggling crackdown programme was geared down as the law enforc Ing agencies had to be concen trated elsewhere during the month of Ramzan g^-also be cause of some political unrest and the SSC examinations during the months of March and April.
The task force has made a list of as many as 30 people reportedly responsible for smuggling and again an nounced the 29 contraband items including foreign-made cotton sarees, shoes, readymade garments, Benson A Hedges cigarettes, some cosmetics. crockery and toilet ar tides not to be sold in the country's markets, according to the source.
Bent on ending the sale of smuggled goods tn the coun
"Try?the task force has been conducting the crackdown on the secret smugglers hideouts since January 1.
Before the operation got underway the shop owners were given a months time to sell off all contraband goods kept in their shops in the wake of several rounds of discussions between the government and the Shop Owners Associations.
But it is being observed that the declared contraband items are still being sold in the local markets. Several shopowners also alleged that the task force failed to check smuggling in the country and it was still hampering their business.
Reviewing the four-month drive, another high official related to the task force said that the information received in Dhaka from different law enforcing agencies on duty in the frontier areas showed that smuggling had decreased by 60 per cent during the last four months.
He further said that on average smuggled goods worth about Taka 10 to 11 crore were seized every month in 1991 in the frontier areas but this year the amount had de-
creased to Taka 4 or 5 crore.
He also commented that smugglers were continuing to elude the law enforcing agencies.
Referring to _the recent devaluation of Indian currency, he said. "It will encourage the smugglers very much"
A high official of the Customs Intelligence requesting anonymity said that most of the seized smuggled goods, were low quality-Indian cotton sarees. Indian cotton sarees at Taka 80 to 100 per piece flood the markets due to their variety of colours, designs and lower prices, these sarees are very popular in the local markets, he added.
He also said that as the smugglers were well-organ ised. the law enforcing personnel very often had to face a lot of problems In carrying out the operations.
Amir Hossain Khan, Chairman of the Federation of Bangladesh Shop Owners' Association, told The dally Star that swooping down on shops should have been In the final stage of the crackdown programme. The government had to ensure tightened steps in the frontier areas, sea ports and airports first, he added.
High duty to import thread and raw colour makes the price difference giving the smugglers the chance to flood Indian sarees In the local mar kets. he went on to say
About the readymade gar ments and shoes bearing foreign seals and available In the local markets, the Chairman said that, these were mostly Bangladesh - made.
As stickers for readymade garments, soles and upper parts of shoes were separately importable items as per country's law. these were assembled here and sold as foreign made goods, he commented.
The Chairman also said that smuggling would not be checked unless the government took severe measures against the responsible persons.