News
Friday, August 10, 2012
Pakistan's million-dollar archaeological smugglersCHARSADDA: When a Pakistani family dispute over land degenerated into cold-blooded murder, Zaman Khan was quickly in over his head. As cousins killed cousins, he borrowed more than $18,500 to buy guns, ammunition and guards. But soon debtors were demanding repayment, leaving him so depressed he contemplated suicide.
Then a friend came up with an idea. He took Khan to a site in which dates back to the ancient Gandhara Civilisation where they dug up 18 pieces of statue, selling them to market traders for Rs 2 million ($20,700). After two more visits, Khan has changed the names of all those involved in the trade, had found enough statues, coins and ornaments to not only settle his debts but also bankroll his long-running feud.
Thirty years on, he presides over a lucrative trade in illegally excavated treasures, smuggled to Thailand, Europe and America as part of Pakistan's sophisticated but underworld business in archaeological remains. "I can fight against my enemies and my friends' enemies now. I have earned millions of rupees from this business," he said.
"Whenever I am on a digging mission, I pay Rs 10,000 ($100) to the relevant police station as a bribe in advance and Rs 1,000 ($10) a day while the work continues," said Khan. He sells the artefacts to dealers in the main city of Peshawar. "Then they sell them to dealers in Islamabad and other cities who then export them to Thailand," he said.
Smuggler Raja Javed has customers in Peshawar, Thailand and Japan. "I have been doing this business for the last 20 years. I have sold hundreds of art pieces worth millions of rupees," he said at his plush villa in the Gandharan city of Taxila.
"At a minimum I have sold 20 big Buddha statues (weighing 40 to 80 kilograms). Each piece sold for around $20,000," said Javed.
The law forbids anyone from moving or selling any archaeological artefacts statues, gold coins, jewellery or utensils even if they are unearthed on their own property.
"They are the property of the government," said Mehmoodul Hassan, a senior official of the archaeology department.
In Peshawar jewellery market, a hub for Afghan and Pakistani dealers, Javed and Khan's main contact said: "One piece can cost up to $10 million, it depends on the quality, state and history of the particular piece. "I can arrange dozens of precious originals and copies for you, but transportation is hard," he told a reporter who posed as a buyer wanting Buddha statues for London.
Customs officials say they have cracked down on the smugglers. "The whole system is computerised now and the chances of corruption are rare," said Riffat Shaheen Qazi, a customs spokeswoman.
But an interviewee for this article suggested the names of two people in Islamabad with a gallery in Thailand who could help transport artefacts abroad. One of them lives in a fort-style farmhouse in the mountains between Islamabad and the summer hill resort of Murree. The man said his activities had become harder to carry out, but by no means impossible. He said, "If you want to buy anything, contact my son in Bangkok. We also have a person in London, he can serve you there, but don not try to make a deal over here in Pakistan." Otherwise, he suggested Afghan smugglers might be able to help. "It has been four decades now," he said. "I am a pioneer of this business, I am king." afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk