BSF seizes 1kg gold from Kaijuri, one held
BSF jawans nabbed a civic police volunteer from Kaijuri in North 24-Parganas on Thursday for allegedly smuggling gold into Bangladesh.
The Border Security Force seized around 1kg (998 grams) of gold from the accused civic police volunteer, Mofijur Rehman, 32, who is attached to Swarupnagar police station in North 24-Parganas.
A BSF spokesperson for south Bengal frontier in Calcutta put the approximate market value of the seized gold at around Rs 47.10 lakh.
Mofijur, a resident of Chithuri-Balti village in Swarupnagar, was handed over to customs authorities at Tentulia and later to police who registered his arrest and began a probe.
BSF sources said after receiving a tip-off from the intelligence wing of the border force, a surveillance team of the 153 battalion intercepted Mofijur as he was approaching the Bangladesh border near Kaijuri riding a motorcycle.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/bsf-seizes-1kg-gold-from-kaijuri-one-held/cid/1809217
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Illicit liquor worth Rs 21L seized in Hapur as UP cracks whip against smuggling
Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur police seized a shipment of illicit liquor worth Rs 21 lakh from a truck heading from Punjab to Kolkata in poll-bound West Bengal on Thursday.
The seizure was made at a time when the UP government has stepped up measures to curb distillation and sale of illicit liquor and smuggling of English wine in areas adjoining Delhi and Haryana in view of the forthcoming festival of Holi and the panchayat elections in the state.
According to Hapur police, three suspects following the truck in a car with Punjab registration number plates were arrested. The truck driver fled leaving the vehicle behind. The liquor was hidden under a consignment of spare parts of 300 new bicycles.
During initial interrogation, the suspects revealed that the truck was loaded with bicycle spare parts in Ludhiana in Punjab and later, the illicit liquor was hidden underneath it to avoid suspicion.
The demand for liquor has shot up, said additional chief secretary of excise Sanjay R Bhoosreddy. In fact, the state excise department has already earned Rs 218 crore in excess by February-end this year in comparison to the previous financial year.
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Air India staffers held for abetting gold smuggling at Kempegowda International Airport
BENGALURU: Two Air India employees — ground staff at Kempegowda International Airport — were nabbed on charges of abetting gold smuggling from the Gulf.
One of them, a 22-year-old woman, was caught on Wednesday while she was picking up smuggled gold paste worth Rs 40 lakh from two passengers. She was to hand over the paste to two gang members waiting outside the airport. All the suspects are from Malayamma in Kozhikode.
KIA officials said the gold smuggling nexus with Air India contract staff came to light after Emirates flight EK 564 from Dubai landed at KIA on Wednesday morning. A couple alighted from the flight with nearly 1kg of gold paste and before heading for Customs, met the woman AI staffer inside the terminal.
The trio admitted to the smuggling to an Air Intelligence Unit team and the AI woman employee said two men were waiting outside the airport to collect the paste. Customs sleuths in the guise of smugglers met the two near the parking area and apprehended them.
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960 cartons of liquor seized in UP’s Ballia ahead of panchayat polls
The liquor was brought for distribution in the panchayat polls and was also to be smuggled into Bihar, where its sale is prohibited, the SP said.
Liquor worth around ₹40 lakh allegedly meant to be distributed ahead of the panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh and for smuggling into neighbouring Bihar has been seized from the city, police said on Thursday.
“During a drive to check the illegal sale of alcohol, 960 cartons of liquor worth over ₹40 lakh were recovered from separate areas on Wednesday,” Superintendent of Police Vipin Tada said.
The liquor was brought for distribution in the panchyat polls and was also to be smuggled into Bihar, where its sale is prohibited, the SP said.
He said police are running a special drive in which a ₹1,000-reward is given to a person if over 100 cartons of liquor are recovered on the basis of his/her tip-off.
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Two passengers held for smuggling gold
Enforcement authorities at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad, detained two passengers in separate incidents on Monday while they were trying to smuggle in foreign origin gold.
In the first case, Shaik Masthan, an Indian National who arrived from Kuwait was caught with 160 grams of yellow metal bars.
He arrived at RGIA by Jazeera airlines flight no J9-1403 in the wee hours of Monday.
“On arrival he was detained by the Air Intelligence Unit of Customs department as he concealed the gold on his body,” an airport official told The Hindu.
In another case, the sleuths of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence detained an air passenger who concealed 2.3 kg gold in a life jacket.
Lear MoreCapacity Building Programme for Police Officers on Prevention of Counterfeiting, Smuggling and Piracy
06/03/2021| Gurugram
FICCI CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy) organized a capacity building programme on Prevention of Counterfeiting and Smuggling for the police officers of Gurugram on 6th March 2021. Mr. Maqsood Ahmed, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Gurugram in his address said, “Activities like smuggling and counterfeiting are causing huge damage to the society and the nation’s economy. Gurugram has recently seen a spike in white collared crime hence increasing surveillance, creating awareness and coordination amongst law enforcement agencies are key to counter this menace effectively.
Mr. Deep Chand, Advisor FICCI CASCADE and Former Special Commissioner of Police, New Delhi during his presentation of the overview on Socio-Economic Impact of Counterfeiting, Smuggling & Piracy highlighted that the COVID19 provided an opportunity to criminals to exploit the current situation and found new ways to make money be it counterfeit or smuggled goods, fraud and cybercrime. Applauding the enforcement officers, Mr. Deep Chand said “even as the country is grappling with the coronavirus crisis, the resolve of officers to protect infiltration of illicit goods surreptitiously into our market-places while maintaining law and order is indeed laudable. However, continued thrust of enforcement activity is essential to keep the offenders at bay.”
The programme was also addressed by Mr. Dharamveer Singh, Asst. Commissioner of Police, Gurugram Police. Sharing his wide experience on investigation of such cases, Mr. Singh emphasized that how the increasing number of seizures may just be the tip of the iceberg of a much larger network and hence this calls for continued focus on tackling the widespread threat
This capacity building programme aimed to sensitize the police officers and underscore the importance of continued awareness and seriousness of the impact of counterfeit and smuggled goods. It was emphasized that such illicit trading practices not only causes huge losses to the government and industry but is also causing significant economic and health & safety consequences for the society at large. Mr. Shashank Singh, Partner, K&S Partners informed the officers about the relevant laws and procedures to be followed while dealing with such cases. Industry representatives- Mr. Milind Palany, Global Brand Protection Lead, India & South Asia, Johnson & Johnson, Dr. Pravin Singh, Lead-Public Policy & Advocacy and Mr. Manish Bathri, Consultant, Brand Protection, Marico Ltd. and Mr. Rajiv Suri, Partner, RNA Technology & IP Attorneys who spoke on behalf of Puma discussed the collaborative role of police and industry in thwarting this menace.
FICCI CASCADE has been successful in stirring an active debate on the topic nationally through various awareness programmes. Among other activities, FICCI CASCADE has been organizing capacity building programs for police officers in various states, focusing on economic offences related to counterfeiting and smuggling, equipping the officers to understand the laws and take requisite action against the perpetrators.
ED raids premises of forex dealers in Mumbai, Goa, seize illegal money worth Rs 44.37 lakh
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said that it has conducted searches at the office and residential premises of three forex dealers and their directors situated in Mumbai and Goa and seized illegal money worth Rs 44.37 lakh. The dealing companies Full-Fledged Money Changers (FFMC,) Sete Mares Global Forex Pvt Ltd, Nemichand Khemraj Forex Pvt Ltd.
“The search resulted in the seizure of Rs 44.37 lakh and assorted foreign currencies worth Rs 9.55 lakh which was in contravention of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and Rules and Regulation made thereunder,” the ED said in a statement issued. “Further, incriminating documents, laptops, mobile phones, containing information related to hawala transactions, smuggling of foreign currency were also recovered and seized during the search operation,” it added.
These companies, engaged in the business of foreign currency exchange, had deposited huge amounts of cash in the bank accounts on a daily basis and remitted it through RTGS and NEFT to other FFMCs and collected foreign currency in cash which aroused suspicion against these companies. “It was suspected that these companies may be involved in trade based hawala and the foreign currencies collected by these companies were smuggled out of the country to settle transactions abroad”, the ED said.
Lear More3 arrested for smuggling IMFL meant for sale in Goa
Aurangabad: The state excise department on Thursday seized a pick-up van for smuggling 1,152 bottle of India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) — meant for sale only in the state of Goa. Police have seized the vehicle and alcohol all amounting to around Rs 4 lakh.
The suspects had modified the floor of the pick-up van and installed multiple containers for storing the liquor boxes. To avoid getting nabbed, the accused would put the illegally obtained liquor boxes and cover them with the metal flooring. To deceive the law enforcement agencies, the accused would put some goods in the pickup jeep.
Once delivered, this liquor, purchased at lesser price from Goa, would give them heavy returns after being sold in the open market. The suspects have been identified as Dhamma Wakte and Ganesh Lahane.
An excise official said that the suspects are part of an inter-state racket involved in procuring liquor from Union Territories and selling it in Maharashtra.
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Two arrested at RGIA for smuggling gold, cigarettes
Hyderabad: Customs sleuths apprehended a passenger who arrived at Rajiv Gandhi International (RGI) Airport from Dubai for trying to smuggle in 1.6kg gold on Tuesday.
Customs officials also apprehended a passenger for trying to smuggle in foreign cigarettes.
The passenger, Amtul H Mohammed, of Hakimpet, concealed pouches containing gold paste weighing about 1.6 kilos inside her clothes. The accused arrived from Dubai at 2.50pm on Tuesday.
Amtul opted for a green channel at customs check area, indicating that she was not carrying any dutiable items. Customs sleuths intercepted her and recovered the gold worth Rs 74 lakh. They booked a case against her under the Customs Act and seized the gold.
In another incident, customs officials apprehended a 41-year-old man for trying to smuggle in 40,000 cigarette sticks.
During the early hours of Wednesday, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel intercepted a passenger, Abdul Azeez K of Kerala who arrived from Abu Dhabi.
Lear MoreFake currency notes of Rs 1.85 lakh face value seized, 1 held
Navi Mumbai police have arrested one person and seized from him fake currency notes of Rs 500 denomination with a face-value of Rs 1.85 lakh, an official said on Wednesday.
Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap at the bus depot near the CBD railway station in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday and nabbed the accused, Salim Ali Asril Haque (30), who hails from West Bengal.
“They seized 200 fake notes of Rs 500 denomination. He had come there to exchange the notes with someone,” the police official said.
The police later also carried out a search of his house at Taloja in Navi Mumbai and recovered 170 more notes of Rs 500 denomination each, he said.
An offence has been registered. The accused was produced before a local magistrate, who remanded him into police custody till March 11, the official added.
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