Container full of foreign cigarettes seized at Mundra port, says DRI

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Sunday said that they have seized 32.5 lakhs sticks of foreign origin cigarettes worth Rs 6.5 crore at Mundra port.

New Delhi: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Sunday said that they have seized 32.5 lakhs sticks of foreign origin cigarettes worth Rs 6.5 crore at Mundra port.

“Based on specific intelligence developed, officers of DRI Ahmedabad intercepted an import consignment at Mundra port. The consignment was declared as ‘Auto Air Freshener’ and was shipped from Jebel Ali port,” said the DRI officer.

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The official said that during the detailed examination of the said consignment, they noticed that the first row packages in the container were of declared goods i.e. ‘Auto Air Freshener’. However, behind the first row, all the packages were containing foreign origin cigarettes Gold Flakes.

“Majority of these foreign origin cigarettes were bearing the markings ‘Made in Turkey’. A total of 32.5 lakhs of these sticks were seized under Panchanama proceedings. The value of the seized cigarettes is estimated to be around Rs. 6.5 crores. It was also observed that some of the cigarette’s packets were having marking of ‘Made in India’. Officers in contact with field experts to identify possibility of attempt to import counterfeit cigarettes or likewise,” officer added.