DRI busted a major cigarette smuggling racket; Seized Worth Rs 1 crore Cigarettes

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a major cigarette smuggling racket on Monday. Two people have been arrested in the case.

The DRI officials seized nearly Rs 2.3 crore in cash and 7,32,640 cigarette sticks worth Rs 1.07 crore.

According to the officials, a Delhi-based syndicate was involved in smuggling multi-brand high-end cigarettes including brands like Marlboro, Benson Hedges, More, Rothmans, Gudang Garam and more. Mumbai was their distribution hub where all the smuggled cigarettes were dispatched from across the country, as per demand.

“It was a planned racket and at least two such major distributors operated five to six godowns each in the city’s dense and sensitive market areas of Musafirkhana. We acted on a credible information, following which we conducted a raid in a well-planned multi-location operation and seized the materials from the godowns,” said an officer.

“Due to some obvious reasons, the names of the accused are anonymous but after the operation, the accused have been charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Customs Act. Interrogation and further investigation of the case are underway,” the officer added.

Read More: Woman dragged for nearly 300 meters by the SUV, Succumbed to Injury

According to the DRI officials, the accused identified as are residents of Mumbai and the duo have admitted their active role in the smuggling of cigarettes in the city. As per the statements recorded by the DRI officers, the duo has almost a similar profile behind the smuggling and they frequently used the same modus operandi to run the nexus of smuggling multi-brand high-end cigarettes.

Valiyaveettil, who basically owns a shop in Musafirkhana first sold lighters and foreign brand cigarettes imported mostly from China. He then started smuggling of the same via goods train and then hired workers to smuggle cigarettes in parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat. He also possessed godowns to load and dispatch cartons of cigarettes. He neither had any import-export code number nor any sort of license.

Ariyil first traded in cigarettes and chocolates and later he used to smuggle boxes of cigarettes to local retailers after purchasing them from big wholesalers. His activities were mostly confined at ground level where he supplied cigarettes to local vendors and small-scale street shopkeepers.

“The accused have been booked under section 135 of the Customs Act and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The investigation in the subject case is at a crucial stage and further investigation needs to be carried out to get more details of the case and we are also probing whether more people are involved in the smuggling racket,” the officer added.