Bengaluru: Rs 2 crore worth smuggled foreign cigarettes confiscated; recipient in custody
The imported cigarettes were illegally sold in pubs, bars and other high-end outlets, reports stated
FollowBengaluru: Customs officials seized over 10 lakh cigarettes, smuggled from Bangladesh and Myanmar to Bengaluru, from three godowns in City Market. The cigarettes are worth Rs 2 crore.
M Ramana Reddy, additional commissioner, city customs commissionerate reportedly said that a man who was selling foreign cigarettes was detained on June 8. Three godowns in the city market area was raided on June 28 where more than 16 brands of international cigarettes worth Rs 2 crore were found.
These cigarettes were illegally sold in pubs, bars and other high-end outlets, reports stated.
An official reportedly said that there were intelligence inputs about cigarettes being smuggled from Bangladesh to Bengaluru via Kolkata by train. Officials reportedly intercepted the goods train in Yeshwanthpur and City railway station and seized a portion of the consignment. Though the transporters escaped, the officials obtained information on the whereabouts of the recipient of the consignment and picked him up for interrogation, the official said.
Two consignments used to arrive every week due to the huge demand for imported cigarettes in Bengaluru, reports said.
Officials reportedly said that the cigarette packets did not contain any pictorial health warnings as required under Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules - 2017.
The negligence in checking the consignments has raised doubts about the involvement of railway officials.
Reports stated that the consignment did not carry names, but just three letters - YKR. The sender had also marked it as garment material.
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