SMUGGLING ESSAY

Outline:

1. Introduction

2. It's a social crime

3. Factors involved in it

4. The evils of smuggling

5. How to tackle it

Smuggling means exporting or importing goods across the borders of the country without the permission of the government as well as without paying custom duties. At times, a product in one country is cheaper than it is in another country. The smugglers come forward and smuggle this cheap item to a country where it is sold at a very high price.- Usually, there are certain restrictions on the transfer of such items, but the smuggler jeopardize and carry on their illegal activities ignoring the laws of the country.

The desire to be rich and well off overnight works at the root of smuggling. It is a crime against society. It is the people who are individually and collectively responsible for the uplift of the country. Government makes laws for the peace and solidarity of the country. If some people violate these laws for their entirely personal gains, they are acting against the welfare of all the people.

It has assumed the proportions of a regular business. Smugglers are very sharp and quick people. They hide the smuggled items cleverly in such ways as are extremely hard to be detected by the custom people. The smuggled goods are usually sent out by roads on big trucks in the darkness of night. Costly things such as gold and heroin are normally smuggled by air and often the bottoms of brief cases are used for this nasty purpose.

The question rises why the smugglers indulge in this soft of illegal activity or trade. The answer is the charm and lure of money without much effort. Money has become such a big charm for some people as they are even ready to put their lives at stake. Another factor that indirectly contributes to smuggling is that most of our countrymen prefer to foreign goods. The smugglers smuggle costly items such as cloth, electrical appliances, air conditioners, VCR's, color TV's etc which have great demand in that country. There are numberless evils of smuggling. The government loses foreign exchange when goods are smuggled out of the country.

When goods are smuggled into the country, it cannot earn from the taxes on them. When things like food grains are smuggled out, their quantities in the country get reduced, and thus their prices rise. When foreign industrial goods are smuggled in, the factories producing them inside the country have to reduce their production. The bad practice of smuggling also creates social vices. The smugglers offer large bribes to the custom officers and to corrupt police officers. Some are tempted and help the smugglers by ignoring their illegal activities. On top of it, the shortage of goods smuggled to other countries encourages black marketing.

Remedies:

It can be checked only if strict laws are framed out and enforced without fear or favour. The smugglers should be given severe chastisement or penalty. The check posts on the borders should,e strengthened and fortified by active, dutiful, loyal and honest officers.

The people residing near the borders should also co-operate with the government. Buying of smuggled things should be discouraged. A developing country like Pakistan cannot afford to neglect this monstrous problem which undermines the very roots of our national economy.