And……the story of how the MD of NA Global Research got some critical data by interviewing a band of smugglers near the Afghan-Pakistan border!
A global automotive truck parts supplier based in Detroit had seen its sales of truck spares fall globally through its official distributors especially in underdeveloped countries. The company commissioned independent research to see if they could find out the key reasons why this had happened.
Stephen Nash was part of the research team and was sent to Pakistan to question fleet operators and official parts suppliers in Karachi and Lahore. It quickly became apparent that as well as the usual copied parts, there was a large market in genuine parts being smuggled over the 1,000 mile border with Afghanistan thus avoiding import duties and undercutting the official distributor network. The main people involved were based in Peshawar near the Khyber Pass. Using third party contacts and clandestine middlemen a meeting was arranged in Peshawar with some of the key people involved in the smuggling operation.
Due to bad weather, flights into Peshawar were cancelled and Stephen had to travel the 300 miles by van over tortuous mountain paths to finally reach the rendezvous point a day late. However, the third party contact was able to rearrange the meeting with the smugglers who were still in town. A meeting was arranged and they were interviewed at the back of a small parts shop. Stephen can best describe what happened in his own words.
‘When I arrived for the meeting I was feeling pretty nervous about how they would react to me and whether they would give me any useful information. The first ten minutes or so were spent fairly tensely as they made their assessment of me and my motives for seeing them. Once I had convinced them that I did not represent any government agency but was trying to get some information for the parts supplier, they visibly relaxed. As I asked them the first few questions they even thought that I would be able to help with their supply problems on certain part numbers which they proceeded to give me. When I let them believe that I could help with that they then seemed very happy to answer all my questions. They gave me a deep insight into how they smuggled the parts, the routes they took, what they charged and a breakdown of the type of parts they supplied. I repeatedly asked them whether they traded in copied parts or quality genuine ones. (At this point a camel poked its head through the door stared for five seconds and moved on.) The smugglers insisted that all parts were genuine and so I said that their original source must be therefore based in the UK or the USA. They agreed and after the translator asked the question I heard the words ‘Saltley, Birmingham City Football Club’ in their response. Well as a Brummie and supporter of the aforementioned football team I was quite staggered to hear this phrase which of course needed no translation and it transpired that the brother of one of the smugglers lived in Birmingham near the football ground. He frequently took a suitcase full of a substantial amount of cash to some of the main parts wholesalers to buy up parts such as brakes and clutches that were on special offer. He then arranged for them to be shipped across Eastern Europe, Turkey and on into Afghanistan. Pleased that I now had all the information I needed and after some further chit-chat I departed feeling very happy that I had now uncovered how their operation worked and why our client was losing market share as a result. They allowed me to take their photo for posterity and I departed on friendly terms.’
Footnote: A PowerPoint was given to the main board a month or so later when the results were discussed. Some of the senior sales people disputed some of the findings but when Stephen Nash told the story of how he got the information from the smugglers, the US Chief Executive queried his sales people’s opinions and asked when they had last visited their main competitors near the Khyber Pass. The remainder of the presentation went very smoothly!