In what could be termed as the largest ever single haul of foreign-made cigarettes in the country, the DRI had seized 3.21 crore of sticks worth Rs 23.29 crore from Hazira port in Surat in the last week of March this year. These seized cigarettes were bought from Dubai. Boxes of Gudang Garam, Djarum Black, and a mild Indonesian clove cigarette, Luvin Fresh, were hidden in a consignment packed with papers and plastics.
The officials recovered 50 consignments containing 9.99 lakh cigarette sticks of foreign origin imported from Dubai which was to be smuggled through courier terminal at Air Cargo Complex in Ahmedabad. All the cigarettes were of Indonesian origin bearing brand name 'Djarum Black'.
The officers made a detailed inventory of the goods found in the container - which was as follows:
# 345 cartons of trolley bags worth Rs 5,36,720.
# 455 cartons of DJARUM Black Clove cigarettes worth Rs 3,18,50,000
# 40 cartons of In BLACK Clove cigarettes worth Rs 35,84,000
# 70 cartons of Gunung Gajah Clove cigarettes worth Rs 70,56,000
On July 29 at 8.30 am, the examination procedure got complete and appriaser Rishi Ranjan and others were asked to appear in DRI office at New Marine Lines office at 11.00 am on the same day. They seized over 19 lakh Djarum Black brand cigarettes, LG LED television sets, Sony home theatre sets, Panasonic airconditioners, French perfumes, Dove soaps, body building food supplements and other items.
DRI officials booked him under sections of the Provisions of the Customs Act, 1862. He was remanded in judicial custody. The DRI had arrested Mehul Pujara, a representative of the Gandhidham-based import firm, who revealed that the smuggled cigarettes were meant to be supplied to the retailers in Daman, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The cigarettes brands are strawberry flavoured Luvin Fresh, clove-flavoured Djarum Black and Gudang Garam.
On Monday, DRI arrested Mehul Pujara, a representative of the Gandhidham-based import firm, who revealed that the smuggled cigarettes were meant to be supplied to the retailers in Daman, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The cigarettes brands are strawberry flavoured Luvin Fresh, clove-flavoured Djarum Black and Gudang Garam.