The Federal Investigation Agency Multan has recovered SR100,000 from a suspected currency smuggler during an operation.

Identified as Mohammad Aleem, the accused is a resident of Okara, Punjab and was travelling to Quetta when the FIA recovered the foreign currency during an operation at the Ghazi Ghat check post in Punjab.

Amid an exorbitant increase in the value of the dollar, the authorities launched a massive crackdown against the hoarding of dollars, sources said.

Reports also circulated that the authorities were planning to scan bank lockers using special devices across the country, however, officials from the State Bank of Pakistan and FIA clarified that reports about scanning bank lockers were false.

“The SBP has not initiated any such move, nor is it possible to scan lockers from the outside,” Dawn newspaper quoted the SBP’s chief spokesperson as saying.

FIA Punjab Director Sarfraz Virk told Dawn that while a crackdown against smuggling is underway, no scanning of lockers is planned. He also denied reports that lists of people buying dollars in bulk had been generated.

Earlier, a report submitted by a civil intelligence agency to the Prime Minister’s House laid bare extensive smuggling operations involving oil and foreign currency.

The report says that a total of 722 currency dealers in Pakistan were involved in havala and hundi operations.

Out of these dealers, Punjab has the highest number with 205 traders involved in the illegal operation. The report has also identified 183 dealers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 176 in Sindh, 104 in Balochistan, 37 in Kashmir and 17 in the capital.