The Airport Security Force (ASF) on Tuesday foiled an attempt to smuggle surgical face masks to Thailand at Islamabad Airport.

The foreigner identified as Yang Xiao was to board GT-350 flight of Thai Air. During search, the ASF officials recovered 120 boxes of surgical face masks from luggage of the passenger. The ASF seized the boxes and handed over both the passenger and his luggage to Customs officials for further action.

The outbreak and spread of Coronavirus has given rise to the demand for face masks, resulting in surge of its price manifold. The hoarders have been exploiting the opportunity by creating artificial shortage of the masks to sell it on inflated rates.