Gold smuggling: 55.61 kg of foreign gold worth Rs 28 crore seized by DRI.
In a major bust of the Myanmar-India gold smuggling network, the Delhi Zonal Unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Thursday seized 55.61 kg of foreign origin gold valued at Rs 28 crore from eight persons at two locations, Delhi and Lucknow.
According to Ministry of Finance, specific information was developed by DRI regarding smuggling of huge quantity of foreign origin gold from Myanmar into India through the Indo-Myanmar border and sending it to different parts of India.
“The spurt of economic activity seen after the lifting of COVID related lockdowns throughout the country, combined with the pent-up demand for gold, coincided with a surge in such smuggling activities. The blocking of air routes through the lock down period also saw a significant shift in the modus operandi of smugglers from the air routes to the land route through the Indo-Myanmar border,” the FinMin said in a release.
The ministry said that the DRI officers have made a string of spectacular gold seizures in the past six months. This include seizure of 51.33 kg of smuggled gold in November 2020 by the DRI Guwahati Zonal Unit, seizure of 84 kg and 66 kg of smuggled gold in August and November 2020, respectively, by the DRI Zonal Unit, and the present seizure of 55.61 kg of gold by the Delhi Zonal Unit, being the latest in the series.
Lear MoreMaha: Five held for smuggling liquor in Thane district
Five persons have been arrested in Maharashtra”s Thane district for allegedly smuggling liquor worth over Rs 39 lakh into the state, an official from the state excise department said on Thursday.
Based on a tip-off, a team from the state excise department laid a trap at Shil Pata on Wednesday and intercepted a tempo carrying the stock, the official said.
On checking the vehicle, officials found IMFL worth Rs 39.37 lakh concealed under cardboard boxes and packaging material, he said.
The alcohol was meant for sale in Goa and was allegedly being smuggled into Maharashtra, the official said.
An offence under provisions of the Prohibition Act has been registered against the accused, five of whom have been arrested, he said, adding that hunt is underway for others who are absconding.
Couple caught with ₹74.8 lakh at airport
Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) was the scene of much drama on Tuesday morning after a couple was caught carrying ₹74.8 lakh in cash and expensive gadgets which they could not account for while clearing security. The wife, upon realising that they were about to be caught, ran to the washroom and attempted to get rid of ₹10 lakh by dumping the notes in a trash can.
According to security officials at KIA, the husband, identified as Mohammed Irfan Ahmed, 35, claimed to be a Customs officer from Chennai. He and his wife Mumtaz had arrived from Chennai and were boarding a flight to Lucknow, said officials. They reached the security check around 9.30 a.m. and stood in separate queues. “When it was his turn, Irfan identified himself as Customs officer, a superintendent, and tried to get his luggage inside bypassing security checks. He claimed that it wasn’t necessary for their bags to be checked,” said a source.
Lear MoreFake Johnson and Johnson sutures racket busted in Mumbai
Mumbai: In a major swoop, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch has busted a racket involving the sale of fake sutures of pharma giant Johnson & Johnson Co and arrested five persons, an official said here on Tuesday.
Following a complaint lodged by the Griffin Intellectual Property Rights Service Pvt Ltd on behalf of J&J Senior Manager (Global Brand Protection) Milind Palany with the Crime Branch, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) launched an investigation.
According to Investigation Officer, Inspector Nitin Patil, in the past couple of days, intelligence was collected about huge quantities of counterfeit J&J sutures allegedly being stocked and sold in several retail medical stores in the vicinity of the Sir J.J. Hospital in south Mumbai.
“We laid a trap on five medical stores, seized 765 fake sutures worth Rs 3.88 lakh. Early Tuesday, we have arrested five persons in connection with the fraud and booked them under Copyright Act’s Sections 51, 63 and Indian Penal Code’s Section 336, and further investigations are on,” Patil told IANS.
Lear MoreSpurious detergent powder making unit busted in Odisha, two held
SAMBALPUR: Police busted a fake detergent powder manufacturing unit at Nuapada in Ainthapali on Saturday night and arrested two persons in this connection.The accused are Naresh Agarwal and Ashish Agarwal of Aithapali. The duo was involved in making fake ‘Surf Excel’ detergent powder that is manufactured by Hinudstan Unilever Limited (HUL).
Police said on the basis of a complaint filed by HUL officials regarding sale of fake detergent packets by some traders in Sambalpur town, a special team was formed and raided multiple business establishments in Khetrajpur wholesale market. During the raid, 502 Surf Excel packets of 90 gm each were seized from the store of Naresh.
During interrogation, the trader revealed that he brought the packets from another businessman Ashish who happens to be a wholesaler of HUL products. The police team then raided Ashish’s godown and found 5,280 Surf Excel packets and a large quantity of unpacked detergent powder.
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Contraband cigarettes found hidden in God of Fortune figurines at Woodlands Checkpoint.
SINGAPORE – At first glance, the plump, gold ingot-wielding figurines look like the benevolent smiling Chinese God of Fortune.
But officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) were not easily taken in when carrying out X-ray checks.
They discovered a total of 11,285 cartons and 7,685 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes found hidden inside the figurines on a Malaysia-registered lorry at Woodlands Checkpoint on Wednesday (Jan 13).
In a Facebook post on Saturday on how the smuggling attempt of the contraband cigarettes was foiled, ICA said its officers noticed anomalies in the X-ray images of Chinese New Year-related figurines transported by a Malaysian lorry entering Singapore.
Lear MoreDuo smuggles gold, iPhones, cigarettes and liquor: Arrested
Chennai: The duo, Syed Ibrahim Gani (27) and Shahul Hameed (36), reached Chennai airport on a flight from Sharjah. At the exit, Customs officials intercepted them based on intelligence input.
When they were searched, officials found that they were carrying six gold paste bundles in their rectum. On extraction, 1.29 kg gold valued at Rs 66 lakh was recovered. Besides these, officials also found one 60 g gold chain and three gold cut bits weighing 70 g in their pockets.
The AIU sleuths searched their bag and found 11 iPhone 12 Pro, 8 old laptops, 8 liquor bottles and 44 cartons of foreign cigarettes.
In all, 1.42 kg gold worth Rs 72.6 lakh and other good worth Rs 12.4 lakh were recovered and seized under the Customs Act, and both passengers were arrested, said a statement from the office of the Commissioner of Customs on Wednesday.
Lear More13 held for selling fake food products in Chennai.
The city police have arrested 13 sellers who were allegedly selling fake products in the brand name of a food products supplier. They were operating from various parts of city including Tambaram, Chromepet, MGR Nagar, Kannagi Nagar and Sankar Nagar.
The management of Laljee Godhoo (LG) and Co. received information that a few shopkeepers were stocking fake asafoetida products in the name of their firm and selling them to customers. A representative of the firm complained to the city police and based on complaint, the city police raided a few places in the city.
MGR Nagar police arrested B. Kannan, 48 of T.S Lakshmanan street and seized 113 kg of asafoetida in containers with fake labels. Similarly, S. Rajendran, 53 of Lakshmipuram was arrested by Chromepet Police and 100 kg of fake goods were recovered from him. Tambaram, Kannagi Nagar, and Sankar Nagar police arrested 11 more persons for the offence.
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Illicit liquor smuggling racket using fake label of popular brands busted in Jhajjar; five held
With the arrest of five persons, the local police on Monday claimed to have busted a racket involved in smuggling illicit liquor with fake labels of popular brands. It has also seized 714 cartons of illicit liquor and other materials.
The accused have been identified as Surender of Rankhanda village, Sundar of Chhichhdana (Sonepat), Mohammad Farman, Sahil and Manaazir of Bareli (Uttar Pradesh), while the police have recovered duplicate stickers and cartons of Blender Pride, Royal Stag and Old Monk brands from the spot. Surender was the kingpin of the racket.
Rajesh Duggal, Superintendent of Police (SP), informed they got a tip-off that illicit liquor was being supplied from a godown located on the Badli road here.
A police team led by Inspector Jitender Singh conducted the raid there and arrested the accused working there. A total of 714 cartons of illegal liquor were also recovered from the godown, he added.
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Smuggled cigarettes seized from Indo-Myanmar border.
Aizawl: Security forces seized 93 cases of foreign-origin smuggled cigarettes in Zokhawthar town in Champhai district on the Indo-Myanmar border, said Assam Rifles.
The contraband worth Rs 1.20 crore in the local market was recovered by the joint surveillance team of Assam Rifles and customs department on early Monday, the sources said.
The consignment was seized and handed over to custom departments in Zokhawthar for legal proceedings, it said.
Extensive anti-seizure operations have successfully thwarted the smuggling nexus along the Indo-Myanmar border, Assam Rifles sources added.
The Assam Rifles recently launched an anti-drug campaign in Mizoram to fight drug abuse and drug smuggling.
https://www.eastmojo.com/mizoram/2021/01/12/smuggled-cigarettes-seized-from-indo-myanmar-border
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