From the top of the Jodar mountains at the Pak-Iran border, pick-up trucks transporting oil look like crawling ants. Photo courtesy Muhammad Akbar Notezai/File
The recent crackdown on oil smuggling into Pakistan has brought to the fore the illegal transportation of fuel through the Pakistan-Iran border. Despite the crackdown, however, smuggling is continuing, simply because the locals have to earn a living.
One of the men involved in the illegal business is Zahid Baloch, who is in his 20s and hails from Balochistan’s Kharan district. Two days ago, he went all the way to the Iran border in Panjgur district to bring back diesel in his Iranian vehicle called Zamyad.