BHOPAL: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Bhopal has seized more than one lakh sticks of smuggled foreign origin cigarettes worth Rs 20 lakh here on Saturday. According to the DRI, its sleuths received information that huge quantity of smuggled foreign-origin cigarettes have been kept in some godowns in the state capital. Acting on the tip-off, the DRI sleuths searched various premises in Bhopal. During their searches, they found more than one lakh foreign-origin cigarette sticks of various brands like Djarum Black, Esse, Gudang Garam, etc. The worth of seized cigarettes is Rs 20 lakh. The cigarettes were illegally smuggled into India and the packs do not carry the cancer awareness images and pictorial warnings as mandated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The goods were seized under the Customs Act 1962 read with Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, as amended, and Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2020. These cigarettes were smuggled into the country and reached Bhopal via New Delhi. These smuggled cigarettes are popular among youths and are sold by local pan shops to trusted customers only. Smuggling of cigarettes is a serious offence as not only the govt loses huge revenue, taxes being more than 100% on these goods, but also smuggled cigarettes do not carry mandatory statutory warning on the packets, thereby defeating the public awareness statutory requirements as per the law.
