Customs seized 4,93,400 sticks of foreign cigarettes in Guwahati on Tuesday. (Representative)
Guwahati:
Customs seized 4,93,400 sticks of foreign cigarettes worth Rs 98.68 lakh in Guwahati on Tuesday through two consecutive operations.
Based on specific information gathered regarding the transportation of smuggled cigarettes of foreign origin through couriers, Customs, Guwahati, received information on Tuesday that a shipment of cigarettes of foreign origin had been booked with Blue Dart Express Ltd., located near the intersection of Zoo Road and Ambikagiri Nagar.
“A customs team immediately went to the said location and identified the specific shipment containing the cigarette packs according to the AWB number received. In total, 5 packages were booked under the said AWB and when checking the contents of each package, the detected cigarettes of foreign origin, namely WIN and ESSE LIGHT brands of Chinese and Korean origin. In the present case, a total of 1.48,000 cigarettes of foreign origin worth Rs 29,60,000 were recovered and seized,” said a senior official according to customs.
He went on to say that the contents of all packages had been marked as “damaged cloth clothing”.
“Furthermore, immediately after the discovery of the first case, new information was received that a vehicle carrying a huge load of smuggled foreign cigarettes was approaching the immediate vicinity of Blue Dart Express Ltd., located near the intersection of Zoo Road and Ambikagiri Nagar, and the shipment of cigarettes was intended to be unloaded at Blue Dart Express Ltd. Once the said vehicle, arriving from Ganeshguri’s side, made a U-turn at the above intersection, the customs team intercepted the vehicle and, in a preliminary search of the packages loaded on the said vehicle discovered cigarettes of foreign origin, namely ESSE LIGHT SUPER SLIM, Made in Korea. While one person managed to flee in the ensuing melee, one person was detained,” the official said.
He also said that a subsequent detailed check of the 8 packs, including a large steel trunk, resulted in the recovery of 3,45,400 cigarettes of the aforementioned brand and worth Rs 69.08,000.
“In total, Guwahati Customs seized 4,93,400 sticks of foreign cigarettes worth Rs.98,68,000 on Tuesday in two consecutive cases,” the customs official said.
In addition to today’s seizure, Guwahati Customs has discovered 45,54,627 numbers of cigarette sticks in 29 different cases in the recent past and the value of the seizures is Rs 7,35,56,680.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NewsMadura staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
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