Rs 17 crore worth foreign cigarettes smuggled in container seized at Mundra port

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized a container load of foreign cigarettes valued at Rs 17 crores that were being smuggled through the Mundra Port on Tuesday.

A senior DRI informed that specific intelligence developed by officers of DRI Ahmedabad suggested that a smuggling syndicate is attempting to smuggle Foreign Brand Cigarettes to India through Mundra Seaport.

Acting on an intelligence report, DRI officers swooped down on the Mundra port premises and identified the container. A search of the container led to the recovery of 850 cartons of Foreign Brand Cigarettes of the “Manchester” brand. Each carton was packed with about 10 thousand cigarettes.

Accordingly, a total of 85,50,000 foreign branded cigarette sticks worth Rs 17 crores were recovered and seized under the Customs Act.

Further investigation is still in progress.

This is the fourth major seizure of Cigarettes/E-Cigarettes by DRI in the Ahmedabad zone during the current financial year. The total value of the seizures exceeds Rs 100 crores.

In April this year, foreign brand cigarettes valued at Rs 17 crores were seized.Two seizures of E-Cigarettes valued at 68 crores were done in the month of September.