4L spurious cigarettes seized at port

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has seized 4.6 lakh spurious cigarette sticks at Chennai port. These cigarettes smuggled from Thailand are worth 9.2 crore.

Based on specific information that spurious cigarettes were being smuggled via sea from Thailand, DRI sleuths searched a container that reached Chennai port in a ship. The container had been declared to carry a tabletop fireplace. However, when DRI sleuths opened the container, they found foreign brand cigarettes concealed in it.

The cigarettes were sent to a laboratory for analysis, DRI sources said.

Since there was no claimant for the consignment, DRI could not arrest anyone. Investigation was on to identify the smuggler, the sources said. In Dec last, customs sleuths seized 20 lakh cigarette sticks worth 3.5 crore at Chennai port which arrived here from Dubai. In Aug, the DRI seized one crore spurious cigarette sticks worth 15 crore smuggled from Thailand and Dubai in ships.