2 Herat customs employees charged with bribery

HERAT CITY (PAN):  Two customs officials have been arrested in the western province of Herat after they were charged with bribery by the attorney office, officials said on Wednesday.

The detainees included a clerk at the passport section of the Islam Qala Dry Port Customs on the border with Iran and an employee at the Torghondai dry port near Turkmenistan, provincial attorney Gul Ahmad Ramish said.

Presidential adviser Mohammad Tahir Safi, who visited Herat on Tuesday at the head of a delegation, said some graft-tainted employees at the two ports had been charged with forcing traders into offering them bribes.

The delegation included representatives from the ministries of interior, finance, commerce and industries, the Attorney General’s Office, the High Office of Oversight and Ant-corruption, the National Directorate of Security and the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Services Commission.

The delegates said they visited the province to look into complaints from traders accusing customs officials of accepting bribes.

myn/ma