DRI seizes electronic goods and e-cigarettes worth Rs 80 crore

AHMEDABAD: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized electronic goods, mobile accessories, branded shoes and watches and e-Cigarettes worth Rs.80 Crores. The goods were being smuggled by mis-declaring the goods as garment accessories and ladies’ footwear with a declared value of 1.5 crores.

DRI Official said “A specific intelligence was developed by officers of DRI that import consignments originating from China are mis-declared as garment accessories and ladies’ footwear and are likely to contain high-end electronic branded goods. The Consignments were being sought to be cleared through SEZ route.”

“6 suspect containers were identified for the purpose of examination. During examination of the said containers, DRI recovered 33138 pcs of Apple AirPods/batteries 4800 E-cigarettes, 7.11 lakh pieces of mobile/electronic goods/accessories (Mobile batteries/wireless kits, laptops batteries, etc), 29077
pcs of branded bags, shoes, and cosmetics, 53385 pcs of branded watches, 58927 pcs of Automobile parts (Mudguard, LED lamps, etc) concealed in the import consignment,” he added.

According to DRI Official release “The value of said Mis declared/smuggled goods is estimated at Rs. 80 Crores against the declared value of Rs.1.5 Crores. Accordingly, the said goods were seized under provisions of the Indian Customs Act 1962.”

The investigation also revealed that the importers were found non-existent at registered premises. The syndicate used various dummy importers to smuggle such goods in the past. Two persons including the CHA have been arrested under Customs Act. Further investigation is under progress.

Recently, the DRI has made a number of seizures which includes Rs 64 crore worth of Chinese toys, Rs.74 Crore worth of Cosmetic items and E-Cigarettes & Foreign Brand Cigarettes worth 134 crores in this Financial Year.