DRI busts smuggling of fake-Gutakhas to Dubai via Malaysia with involvement of Ahmedabad based Exporting firm

Ahmedabad/Mumbai:

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has busted the smuggling of ingredients of Pan Masla to Malaysia by one Ahmedabad based exporting firm and then mixing them there to preparing fake pouches of branded Gutkhas to be sent to Dubai.

The DRI team from Ahmedabad also seized such items worth Rs 38 lakhs from Mumbai port.

A DRI official said that specific intelligence was developed by Zonal unit of DRI at Ahmedabad that one Ahmedabad based exporting firm was involved in smuggling of scented tobacco along with lime, catechu, betel nut in crushed/powder form to Malaysia by mis-declaring them as pan masala. The firm was doing so as import of tobacco/tobacco items into Malaysia requires Import Licence from the Malaysian Authorities and the said firm had no such Licence.
He said that the modus adopted by this exporter was to send the items in crushed/powder form and ready to mix condition to Malaysia by mis-declaring them as pan masala and then mix them all to make gutkha, pack them in counterfeit pouches of famous gutkha brands and then export these counterfeit branded gutkha to Dubai from Malaysia. It was further gathered that one such container of the said exporter had already been customs cleared from ICD, Tughlakabad, Delhi and reached JNPT, Mumbai to sail on a vessel to Port Klang, Malaysia. Officers of DRI, Ahmedabad intercepted that container at JNPT, Mumbai with consignment of declared value of Rs. 38 Lakhs and handed over the case to Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB), ICD, Tughlakabad, Delhi for further investigation.

DeshGujarat