Revenue Officials Seize Smuggled Gold Worth ₹ 17.5 Crore From Truck In Bengal, 4 Arrested
Kolkata: In one of the largest gold recoveries in recent times, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 33.5 kg of the yellow metal from a truck in Siliguri, a DRI release said.
The gold is valued at ₹ 17.5 crore, it said. The agency officials acting on a tip off intercepted the truck on Friday morning. The truck was on way from the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur to Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, the release said.
The four occupants of the truck during interrogation said that they were coming from Guwahati and denied carrying any contraband items with them.
On being grilled further they confessed that they were carrying 202 pieces of smuggled gold which were hidden in their luggage, it said.
They confessed that the gold pieces were smuggled from Myanmar through the border in Manipur and were being carried to Sri Ganganagar for delivery.
The four have been arrested under the Customs Act, the DRI said. In the current fiscal, the agency has seized around 98 kg of smuggled gold valued at ₹ 52 crore in West Bengal and Sikkim.
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DRI seizes 33 kgs gold worth over Rs 17 crore from Siliguri being smuggled from Myanmar
KOLKATA: In one of the largest seizures, officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Friday seized 33 kgs of gold, smuggled into India from Myanmar, worth over Rs 17 crore from West Bengal’s Siliguri, according to an official statement.
Four people have been arrested by the DRI for their alleged involvement in smuggling of the yellow metal, it said. Acting on inputs, the DRI officials intercepted a truck at Siliguri. The truck had four occupants who are based in Rajasthan.
On intense questioning, they ultimately confessed that smuggled gold of foreign origin was being carried in their luggage, the statement said. “Thereafter, 202 pieces of gold which were inside the luggage of the occupants of the truck were recovered. Their total weight is 33.532 kg valued at Rs 17.51 crore,” it said.
They admitted that the gold was smuggled from Myanmar through border in Manipur and that they were carrying it for delivery at Sri Ganganagar, it said.
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Mumbai: Flyers intercepted with foreign currency, gold at city airport
The Mumbai Customs has seized foreign currency and gold worth Rs 29.84 lakh at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) since Wednesday.
According to the customs, they intercepted a passenger while departing to Sharjah on Wednesday. The passenger was carrying 26,390 US dollars, equivalent to Rs 19.23 lakh. “The currency was cleverly concealed in a false cavity made in his backpack,” the customs stated.
In another case, a passenger was intercepted based on suspicion and was found carrying six gold bars, collectively weighing 659 grams of gold. The gold has been seized and a case has been registered in this regard.
Sources stated that smugglers cash-in the price difference of gold in the country compared to other countries. Due to the stringent lockdown and lack of flights, gold smuggling activities in the country had slowed down. With operations resuming, smugglers are trying to sneak in the precious gold.
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metric tonnes of turmeric seized in Mandapam
Ramanathapuram again appears to be the ‘most preferred’ destination for smugglers after a long pause.
In the last 60 days alone, close to 10 metric tons of turmeric have been seized in Mandapam, Thondi and Rameswaram by the Central and State agencies in at least four different incidents.
The modus operandi was simple. According to police sources, a group of persons took the responsibility of procuring the product from open markets and handing it over to the ‘agent’ here by road. The goods are then taken by sea route and handed over to the ‘contact’ person in Sri Lanka, who in turn settles the payment through “hawala”.
With the sea route between the two nation being just about 18 to 20 nautical miles, the boatman smuggle the goods in the shortest possible time and return to the shore.
A Q branch police team led by Inspector Maheswari seized 93 bags of turmeric at Kaarangadu, a sea shore point near Thondi on Tuesday. Preliminary interrogations revealed that the bags, which weighed 2,325 kilograms, were ready to be shipped to Colombo. According to the confessions, turmeric was in high demand in the island nation and the smugglers booked huge profits through the illegal route.
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Fake Realme products worth almost Rs 13 lakh seized, OEM cautions against counterfeiting menace
Counterfeit Realme products, including accessories such as earphones and wireless earbuds worth almost Rs 13 lakh were seized from Mumbai’s Manish Market during a raid, the handset maker told Times Now on Tuesday. The cops had raided five shops and arrested five people who were later released on bail. The sellers were found selling counterfeit Realme accessories and as many as 1,370 fake accessories by the smartphone player were confiscated during the raid.
“A lot of people have been selling fake Realme products in the market, and we request our customers to please verify original products on the company’s official website www.realme.com. We are conducting raids across India on a regular basis and strict legal action is being taken against the sellers who are selling fake products. We have grown exponentially and have established ourselves as a brand that offers products with outstanding designs, advanced technology, and industry-leading qualities,” Madhav Sheth-Vice President, Realme and Chief Executive Officer, Realme India told Times Now.
“Our industry has time and again faced the issue of dealing with fake products and we hope that together we can find a solution to stop this corrupt practice,” Sheth added.
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The ship that stopped 7,000 migrants, and smuggled 700,000 cigarettes
During an inspection of the ship on the day it returned home, Italy’s financial police found about 700,000 contraband cigarettes and several boxes of Cialis, a medication for erectile dysfunction.
By the time the Caprera, a small gray Italian warship, returned to its base in southern Italy in July 2018, it had helped intercept more than 80 migrant smuggling boats off the coast of Libya, and stopped more than 7,000 people from reaching Europe.
For this work, the Caprera won the praise of Italy’s then interior minister, Matteo Salvini, an anti-migrant nationalist, who lauded the ship for “defending our security,” as he wrote on social media. “Honor!”
There was just one problem: The Caprera was itself smuggling contraband to Europe.
During an inspection of the ship on the day it returned home, Italy’s financial police found about 700,000 contraband cigarettes and several boxes of Cialis, a medication for erectile dysfunction. All the contraband was bought when the Caprera was moored in Tripoli from March to July 2018 as part of an anti-people-smuggling mission by the Italian navy.
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Five held, one booked for liquor smuggling
The police have nabbed five persons and booked another for liquor smuggling from different places in the city during the past 24 hours. Seizure of 105 bottles of country liquor and whisky has been made from them.
The police said Aman Sharma, a resident of Gurpal Nagar, was nabbed with 24 bottles of country liquor from his house in Gurpal Nagar. In another raid, Vicky Bhatia of Lahorian Dhaba in Green Enclave was arrested and his accomplice Deepak, a resident of Netaji Park, booked with the recovery of 12 bottles of whisky.
Guddu of Deep Nagar was nabbed from his gas stove shop where he was allegedly selling smuggled liquor and 11 bottles of whisky were recovered from him. In yet another instance, the police arrested Manpreet Singh of Mundian Kalan from Sector 32 with 10 bottles of whisky in his possession.
In another raid conducted on a tip-off, the police nabbed Blawinder Singh of Managt village while selling smuggled liquor on at the back of the village cremation ground. Four boxes (48 bottles) of country liquor were recovered from his possession.
The police said cases had been registered against all suspects under the Excise Act.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/ludhiana/five-held-one-booked-for-liquor-smuggling-148125
Lear MoreFour Held for Their Alleged Involvement in Smuggling Luxurious Watches: Customs
New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI) Four people have been arrested by the customs officials for their alleged involvement in smuggling luxurious watches worth nearly Rs 3 crore, according to an official statement issued on Sunday.
“Delhi airport customs on the basis of suspicion intercepted two Indian passengers on 24.09.20 coming from Dubai via flight UK 224 having four (04) high-end luxurious watches valued at Rs 51.55 lakh, with an intention to smuggle them,” it said.
The passengers admitted smuggling luxurious watches valued at Rs 1.4 crore during their previous visits also, the statement said.
Further, on the basis of information provided by the passengers, a search was conducted at the registered place of business of a company dealing in luxurious foreign branded watches and 29 unaccounted watches of Chopard brand valued at Rs 2.3 crore were seized, it said.
The two directors of the company in their respective statements accepted of having purchased smuggled watches valued at Rs 2.5 crore (approx) in cash from the said two passengers in the past also, the statement said.
Lear Morelakh cigarettes seized by two Customs wings in Mumbai
MUMBAI: Following strict vigilance by central agencies at Mumbai international airport, smugglers are using other airports to smuggle in foreign cigarettes, and from there they are then transporting it to Mumbai by road or by railway.
Rummaging and intelligence wing and marine and preventive wing of Customs made major seizures at Mumbai Central railway station and at a Kalbadevi godown and seized cigarettes worth Rs 50 lakh.
Customs got information that cigarettes were being smuggled in bulk in a northern state and from there it would be transported by train on September 18. Officials kept a strict vigilance at the station and checked a huge parcel from Delhi. The goods were marked as miscellaneous on the booking receipt. The consignment contained imported cigarettes worth around 23.3 lakh, an official said.
Customs also raided a transporter’s warehouse on September 21 following a tip-off and seized foreign cigarettes worth more than Rs 18.3 lakh.
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Liquor haul at Bihar border
STATE DIGEST: Protest against changes in labour laws and farm bill; zero tolerance to illegal mining in Bokaro; Bihar residents arrested for smuggling liquor.
Harihurganj police in Palamau recovered and seized a huge consignment of liquour near the Bihar border on Thursday. The consignment had thousands of bottles of alcohol which was being smuggled to Bihar.
Police have stepped up border checks before the Bihar Assembly elections. SDPO Shambhu Kumar Singh said as the election gets nearer, smuggling of illicit wine will be rampant which they are determined to foil.
Singh said along with the illicit wine police have recovered a huge consignment of government rice meant for the public distribution through PDS shops.
The wine and government rice were clandestinely stocked in a godown owned by Umesh Sao, a mukhiya and PDS shop owner.
Singh said Sao who is absconding will face criminal charges under essential commodities act. Sao will also be charged for stocking illicit wine with the purpose of inter state smuggling.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/jharkhand/liquor-haul-at-bihar-border/cid/1793007
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