Gilgit-Baltistan: Due to a surge in black-marketing and involvement of mafias, the north-zone areas of Gilgit-Baltistan have become a hub for expired, substandard and injurious items, Pakistan vernacular media reported.

Every day, thousands of tonnes of contaminated, expired, and unsafe food and medicine are sold in the region.

According to Pakistan vernacular media, whenever this is brought to the administration's attention, a temporary suspension is issued, and the sale resumes after a few days.

The fundamental reason for this is that the mafias participating in this illegal trade are more powerful than the government and administration, Pakistan vernacular media said.

Massive protests in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan are seen time and again, against black marketing, which has contributed to the miseries of people's lives in the region.

Daily life for the local people here becomes more difficult, especially when they lack basic facilities, and black-marketing of daily food products and corruption by government authorities add to their woes.