On March 7, personnel from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), based on specific inputs, had asked the senior officials of VCTPL (Visakha Container Terminal Private Limited) in Visakhapatnam to offload three specific containers from a container liner, which was heading to a port in China.
On opening and examining the containers, the DRI officials seized about 10.1 MT of the banned red sander logs that were stuffed amidst Bentonite powder and the cargo was valued to be around ₹4 crore.
Since 2014, different enforcement agencies such as DRI, Customs and Police have seized at least 5 to 6 container consignments in Visakhapatnam that were carrying red sanders and in all the cases the logs were stuffed along with some other material. In VCTPL alone there are at least 4 to 5 containers that were seized and quarantined to a secluded location for further investigation.
This raises the question, whether Visakhapatnam is being used as a potent gateway by the red sander smugglers.
As per a senior officer from the Customs, there were possibly two cases where the containers were stuffed with the banned product in Visakhapatnam.
In one major case in 2014, about 26 MT of red sanders was stuffed into a container at a godown in Auto Nagar and it was caught by the DRI. In other cases, the red sanders were stuffed in other places and the container liner was just passing through Visakhapatnam.
The cases of stuffing in Visakhapatnam could be not many, but using the sea route from Chennai via Visakhapatnam- Kolkata- Singapore or Malaysia to China, could be a potent route being used by the smugglers, said another officer from Customs.
In the recent case, the containers were reportedly loaded into the vessel at Chennai port, and as per the shipping bill, Bentonite was the certified cargo.
Valid document
Shipping Bill is the most valid documents that certify the quality, quantity and type of cargo.
It is prepared by the authorised Customs House Agent (CHA) based on the inputs given by the exporter and checked and countersigned by the Customs officials.
How can some other cargo be stuffed along with the certified one, is the question that is baffling the DRI officials.
As per a reputed CHA, it can be loaded at the stuffing point, which could be at the factory, mines or at the warehouse.
But the stuffing is certified by officers from the Excise or Customs and tamper-proof seal is fixed after locking the container, he said.
Collusion between the exporter- CHA and the officials is not ruled out, and senior officers from Customs pointed out that the smugglers can even remove some of the existing cargo and stuff it with banned products, during transit of the container from the stuffing area to the port.
“It is possible by opening one side of the container be removing the rivets and stuffing the red sanders. All angles are being worked out and Visakhapatnam as a potent gateway cannot be ruled out,” said a senior Customs Officer.
