15 lakh foreign made cigarettes worth 1.8 crore smuggled from Dubai seized in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has seized around 15 lakh foreign cigarettes worth Rs 1.8 crore smuggled from Dubai by a firm based here under the garb of Aluminum scrap.

A DRI officer involved in the investigation of the matter today said that based on the intelligence input that foreign made cigarettes would be smuggled by Ahmedabad based firm Dwarkesh Recycling situated at Manmohan Cross Road, in Odhav area by concealing the same in two forty feet containers said to contain Aluminum scrap through Inland Container Depot (ICD), Khodiyar.

The DRI sleuths from Ahmedabad examined the said two containers yesterday and today after it reached reached ICD, Khodiyar from Jebel Ali Port, Dubai. During the examination around 15 lakh pieces of cigarettes of foreign brand Gudang Garam were recovered concealed under with aluminum scrap. The market value of smuggled cigarettes is approximately Rs. 1.8 crores. High rate of statutory duties/taxes and mandatory 85% pictorial warning make smuggling of foreign brand cigarettes lucrative for smugglers. Further, investigation is under progress, he said.

DeshGujarat