Around 112.14 metric tonnes (MT) of areca nuts worth Rs5.7 crore has been recently impounded at Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House (JNCH), Nhava Sheva, marking the second biggest seizure this month.
The contraband stuffed in ten containers and misdeclared as bitumen was imported from the UAE, sources said on Wednesday. The smugglers tried to evade approx Rs6.27 crore duty, said the official.
Acting on specific intelligence, the Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch (SIIB) (Import) intercepted the consignment. “Areca nuts are classifiable under Customs Tariff Handling and attract a high tariff value and duty structure of 110% plus integrated goods and services tax for protection of Indian producers.
In order to avoid the same, unscrupulous importers resort to misdeclaration,” said the official. India is the largest producer of areca nuts in the world still it's heavily smuggled to feed the illegal gutkha industry, the official added.
Earlier this month, the SIIB officers at JNCH had seized 189.6 MT of areca nuts valued at Rs 9.63 crore. They were stuffed in nine containers and misdeclared as 'bitumen grade 60/70' in the import documents. Two persons were arrested by the Customs.
