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Nine officers, including a former Collector, face disciplinary action over 400kg of seized silver allegedly swapped for lead bricks between Quetta and Lahore
Aftab Maken
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched a formal inquiry into what officials are calling one of the biggest scandals in the history of Pakistan Customs, after nearly 400 kilograms of confiscated silver was allegedly stolen and replaced with lead bricks while in official custody.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, acting as the competent authority under the Civil Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 2020, has approved the formation of a three-member committee to conduct disciplinary proceedings against the accused officers, according to an order issued by the Revenue Division.
How the theft came to light
The case dates back to April 2026, when Customs officials moved a consignment of roughly 688 kilograms of seized silver — packed into 36 sealed boxes — from the Collectorate of Customs Enforcement in Quetta to the Pakistan Mint in Lahore for testing and official deposit. The silver had originally been recovered during anti-smuggling operations in Balochistan’s Chagai district and was being transported under Customs supervision.
It was only when the consignment reached the Mint that officials discovered something was badly wrong: nearly 400kg of the silver had allegedly been swapped out and replaced with lead bricks somewhere along the way.
Pakistan Customs launched an internal probe immediately. Investigators reviewing Safe City Quetta CCTV footage allegedly found that the vehicle carrying the original silver consignment had been switched mid-transit for another vehicle loaded with lead — effectively an inside job carried out under the cover of an official transfer.
An FIR was registered, and two Preventive Officers, Arif Ali Jumani and Samiullah Achakzai, were arrested in connection with the alleged theft.
The inquiry committee
The three-member committee investigating the case will be headed by Ashraf Zubair Siddiqui (PSP/BS-21), Additional Inspector General and Regional Commander, North Region, of the National Highways and Motorway Police. He will be joined by Abrar Ahmed Mirza (PAS/BS-21), Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, and Ashhad Jawwad (PCS/BS-21), Member Customs Policy at the FBR — a composition apparently designed to bring in officers from outside Customs itself to keep the process independent.
Muhammad Imran Khan Mehmood, DG Reforms and Automation Customs, has been appointed hearing officer, while the Chief Collector of Customs Enforcement, Islamabad, will act as the departmental representative in the proceedings. The committee has been given 60 days to complete its investigation and submit a report, which will go to the Prime Minister once finalised.
The officers under the scanner
Nine officials are named in the inquiry:
- Kareemullah, former Collector, Customs Enforcement Quetta — already suspended by the FBR and currently in the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)
- Yousaf Ali Khan Magsi, former Additional Collector
- Tariq Hussain, Deputy Collector
- Muhammad Yousaf, Assistant Collector
- Samiullahand Arif Ali Jumani, Preventive Officers (already arrested)
- Yasir Arafat, Preventive Officer
- Ali Kamranand Muhammad Zaman Mazari, Inspectors
Investigators say the probe was widened beyond the two arrested officers to examine whether more senior Customs officials responsible for the silver’s custody were negligent or complicit.
Part of a bigger pattern
The scandal has landed amid growing scrutiny of how seized goods are handled inside Pakistan Customs’ warehouses and transport chain. It follows a separate case, disclosed to a Senate Standing Committee earlier this year, in which roughly 698kg of silver confiscated in various Balochistan cases was found to have shrunk to just 298kg by the time of testing — with the missing 400kg again turning up as lead. Senator Saleem Mandviwalla had directed the FBR at the time to recover the missing silver and identify those responsible.
It also comes weeks after a separate inquiry implicated several FBR and Customs officials in the disappearance of roughly Rs 250 million worth of seized cigarettes from a departmental warehouse — fuelling a broader public narrative that goods seized in anti-smuggling raids are, in some cases, being siphoned back out through the same system meant to police them.
