DRI seizes foreign-origin cigarettes worth Rs 24 crore in Mumbai, arrests 5

DRI officials said they were closely monitoring the movement of the container carrying these cigarettes and intercepted it soon after it was diverted to a private godown instead of reaching its destination.

According to DRI, 1.07 crore sticks of foreign-origin cigarettes of Esse, Dunhill, Mond, and Gudang Garam brands were recovered from the imported container. (Express Photo)

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The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) laid a trap and arrested five people in Mumbai for allegedly trying to smuggle 1.2 crore sticks of foreign-origin cigarettes worth Rs 24 crore. DRI officials said they were closely monitoring the movement of the container carrying these cigarettes and intercepted it soon after it was diverted to a private godown instead of reaching its destination.

DRI officials said they had received specific input that a container, suspected to be carrying the contraband, would land at the Nhava Sheva port in Navi Mumbai. An official said, “The container was supposed to be trans-shipped to Arshiya Free Trade Warehousing Zone for further clearance. But it was later found that the container had left the port and instead of reaching its destination, it was diverted to a private godown.”

“A total of 1.2 crore sticks of foreign-origin cigarettes having an estimated market value of about Rs 24 crore have been seized by DRI,” said an official. (Express Photo)

The officials monitoring its movement found something amiss after which a team of DRI personnel was sent to the godown. “We conducted a search in the 40 feet container and found that it was stuffed with foreign-origin cigarettes. Those cigarettes are banned for import into India due to their non-compliance with Indian standards,” said an official.

DRI officials said the group of accused had planned to smuggle those cigarettes by removing them from the container in the godown and replacing the same with goods declared in import documents in order to hoodwink customs authorities. “The godown was already stocked with the declared goods which were supposed to be stuffed in the container after removing the cigarettes before the container was taken into Arshiya FTZ,” said an official.

“In a swift follow-up operation, another stash of 13 lakh cigarettes of foreign origin of various brands like Esse Lights and Mond, which were smuggled earlier by the same syndicate, were seized from another godown,” said an official. (Express Photo)

According to DRI, 1.07 crore sticks of foreign-origin cigarettes of Esse, Dunhill, Mond, and Gudang Garam brands were recovered from the imported container. “In a swift follow-up operation, another stash of 13 lakh cigarettes of foreign origin of various brands like Esse Lights and Mond, which were smuggled earlier by the same syndicate, were seized from another godown,” said an official.

Five people, including an importer, involved in the syndicate were arrested by the DRI officials. “A total of 1.2 crore sticks of foreign-origin cigarettes having an estimated market value of about Rs 24 crore have been seized by DRI,” said an official.

“DRI has been constantly engaged in busting such designs of smuggling syndicates smuggling contrabands, misusing SEZ and FTWZ schemes, thereby protecting government revenue and also protecting society from harmful effects of illicit tobacco.”

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