2 held in raids against liquor smugglers, manufacturers
Ludhiana: In its ongoing drive against illicit liquor smuggling, the Ludhiana excise department arrested two persons during the raids. The actions came a day after the department had conducted several raids on illicit liquor manufacturing hubs located near the banks of Satluj river.
Dr Shivani Gupta, assistant commissioner, excise, Ludhiana range, said, “Our teams are working round the clock to identify and act against gangs and persons involved in illicit liquor manufacturing and liquor smuggling. In a raid conducted on Wednesday at the house of bootlegger Nirmal Singh, resident of Galib Kalan village in Jagraon, our team recovered 24 bottles whiskey of a leading brand for sale in Haryana. We arrested the accused on the spot.”
She said following the information, another raid was conducted at the house of bootlegger Ram Singh, a resident of Kot Umra village near Sidhwan Bet and 20 bottles of illicit liquor (home made) were seized. On Thursday, a joint naka was held near Ittan Wala chowk. During checking, one Sukhdev Singh of Dhandra village was arrested with 36 bottles of Sounfia (for sale in Punjab) from his scooter number PB10HE5348. Further investigation in all three cases is under progress.”
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Assam : Fake Currency Ring Busted In Mangaldoi; 5 Held
A five-member gang suspected to be involved in an interstate ring of counterfeit currency has been apprehended from Assam’s Mangaldoi.
According to the police, the offenders were apprehended due to prompt action by four unarmed Home Guard Jawans.
Following their arrest, a large amount of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) with a face value of Rs 15 lakhs in the denomination of Rs 500 were confiscated.
According to police, these two Home Guard Jawans, identified as – Alkibar Rahman and Hitesh Medhi noticed the Maruti Swift car bearing registration number ASO1AF9389 moving suspiciously near Chapai Chowk at midnight.
They attempted to stop the truck, but the driver refused and raced away towards Mangaldai town.
Following receipt of the information, these two Home Guard jawans intercepted the automobile at Karimchowk in Mangaldai town and transported the vehicle and four passengers to the police station. Police seized thirty packets of FICN totaling 15 lakh after conducting a thorough check of the vehicle.
https://www.northeasttoday.in/2022/05/21/assam-fake-currency-ring-busted-in-mangaldoi-5-held/
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Ship captain fined €600 over discovery of three million ‘contraband cigarettes’ onboard
A court has fined the captain of a merchant ship €600 for submitting a false declaration in administrative paperwork after customs officials discovered mastercases containing over three million contraband cigarettes. However, the court cleared him of more serious charges after ruling that it hadn’t been shown that the items seized were in fact, cigarettes.
Magistrate Ian Farrugia presided over the case in which prosecuting police inspector Daryl Borg charged Mario Cardona, captain of the MV Alice with attempting to evade duty and tax and knowingly receiving or transporting the contraband cigarettes, as well as .knowingly omitting a substantial detail in his declarations to the Maltese authorities.
The MV Alice had docked in Malta on June 29, 2014, with its captain, Mario Cardona and four other crew members on board.
As per normal procedure, the ship’s local Agent had gone aboard the ship to inspect its IMO declaration, which stated that there was nothing to be declared except gas, oil and fuel. But not long after Caruana had disembarked the ship and gone home, Customs officials boarded the ship and discovered a large stockpile of cigarettes in the ship’s stores, close to the crew’s living quarters.
Lear MoreWest Bengal: 3 arrested for printing counterfeit US dollars in Burdwan, BJP says TMC linked to the racket
On Thursday (May 19), the police had busted a factory, printing fake currency, including counterfeit US dollars as well as Indian Rupees, in East Mathpara near Khagragarh in the Burdwan district of West Bengal.
A total of 3 people, namely, Gopal Singh, Bipul Sarkar and Dipankar Chakraborty, were apprehended by the police in the case. ABP Ananda reported that Gopal rented a house with two other women about 5 months ago where Gopal set up the factory.
They had introduced themselves as human rights activists while renting the house. As per a report in News 18 Bangla, there were a total of 3 women in the house. Two of them were said to be physically disabled. One of the women also had a child.
Given their medical condition, the neighbours treated them with sympathy. However, they were oblivious to the fake currency factory that was being operated from that house by the accused.
https://www.opindia.com/2022/05/west-bengal-fake-currency-us-dollars-burdwan-tmc-bjp/
Lear MoreIllegal liquor worth Rs 70 lakh seized, 2 held in UP’s Amethi
Amethi (UP), May 18 (PTI) The police have arrested two men here and recovered illegal liquor worth Rs 70 lakh was recovered from them, officials said on Wednesday.
The seizure was made in a joint operation of the district police and a unit of Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police, they said.
“A truck was stopped by the team on the Lucknow- Sultanpur road following an intelligence. Illegal liquor was found stashed in the truck. The driver and another person in the vehicle could not prove that liquor was legal,” said Additional Superintendent of Police, Vinod Kumar Pandey.
The police arrested truck driver Vikram Meghwal and Jakir Khan, both residents of Madhya Pradesh, officials said.
Later in a statement, the STF said illegal liquor worth 70 lakhs was recovered from the truck.
“The two accused informed that they were members of an interstate liquor smuggling racket. A case under relevant sections has been lodged and we are investigating the matter,” said the officer.
During investigation, the police found that the number plate of the vehicle was fake, officials said.
https://theprint.in/india/illegal-liquor-worth-rs-70-lakh-seized-2-held-in-ups-amethi/961439/
Lear MoreCustoms destroy P95-M worth of smuggled cigarettes
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT: The Bureau of Customs-Port of Subic destroyed P95 million worth of smuggled cigarettes and disposed of “overstaying” containerized cargoes last Thursday, May 12.
Port of Subic District Collector Maritess Martin said the condemned cargoes were part of the nine 40-footer container vans, three of which contained the cigarettes consigned to Goldlink Int’l. Subic Inc., which was seized last year.
The other six containers, reportedly containing assorted household goods and personal effects, were declared “overstaying,” or their owner had failed to claim them after an extended period.
Customs personnel brought the nine containers to the Greenleaf 88 Non-hazardous Waste Disposal facility in Pampanga for shredding, crushing and dumping. These are the approved disposal processes.
Martin assures the public that it will continue to implement measures to dispose of overstaying containers to ensure the unhampered flow of goods in the Port while remaining steadfast in its campaign against smuggling.
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Tripura: BSF foils smuggling attempt, seizes valuables worth over Rs 2.29 crores
Agartala (Tripura) [India], May 15 (ANI): The Tripura unit of Border Security Force (BSF) in its ‘Special Operations’, foiled another trans-border smuggling attempt across the India-Bangladesh International Border and seized items worth more than Rs 2.29 crores and arrested two smugglers, informed BSF on Sunday.
“BSF troops gave a big jolts to the trans-border smugglers by successfully seizing huge quantity of contraband items, besides 20.5 Kgs Ganja, recused 29 cattle heads having combined seizure value worth Rs. 2,29,33,241 along with Rs 10,500 Bangladeshi Taka. Two smugglers have also been apprehended in two different operations”, stated the BSF.
The arrested people have been idfentified as Madhu Data (55 years) and Pranam Majumdar (35 years). The apprehended persons along with seized mobile phones have been handed over to Manu Bazar police station in South Tripura.
“During wee hours of May 14, on specific Intelligence input the troops of BOP Srinagar, Ex-109 Bn BSF conducted a special joint operation along with Police and successfully recovered huge consignment of 102 Bundles containing assorted clothing items along with one van one Motorcycle and three mobile phones having total seizure value amounting to Rs 2,22,98,000 from a Godown in South Tripura’s Sabroom”, added BSF.
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Goa cops raid pharmacy, seize cannabis-based products
The North Goa district police in Goa on Wednesday seized cannabis-based gummies, digestive power, and ‘churan’ worth Rs 2.23 lakh from an allegedly illegal pharmacy.
Arjun Khanna, the owner of the pharmacy ‘Cannadoc clinic,’ has been arrested under the relevant provisions of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, according to North Goa Superintendent of Police Shobhit Saxena.
“When police went to the store, they discovered a variety of cannabis-infused goods for sale. The employee at a store in Goa was unable to present any paperwork when asked about the authorization or licences required for selling cannabis-based items” Saxena explained.
“As a result, the police seized all of the cannabis-based treatments and items weighing around 7 kgs after finding no authorisation from any authority to sell them in Goa. The whole cost is Rs 2.23 lakh “Saxena added to this.
This is the first police raid in the state on a pharmacy selling cannabis-based items, which is also known as a narco-tourism hotspot.
Lear MoreDRI seizes 11 kg gold worth over Rs 5 crore, foils smuggling attempt
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has successfully foiled attempts of organised gold smuggling though air route by effecting two successive seizures in Lucknow and Mumbai last week, which had a common method of concealment of gold.
After having received precise intelligence on May 6, DRI officials inspected a consignment which had arrived from Dubai at Air Cargo Complex, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai. In the import documents, the item was declared as sectional and drum type drain cleaning machines, but on careful examination, 5.8 kg gold valued at Rs 3.10 crore in disc form was found concealed inside two motor rotors of the machine imported in the said consignment.
The importer was located in South Mumbai and was arrested. The importer has been sent to judicial custody by a local court.
This seizure in Mumbai was on the heels of another seizure made by DRI Officers in Lucknow a day earlier on May 5. In that case too, DRI intercepted an import cargo said to contain an electrical threading machine at Air Cargo Complex of Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, and gold discs were found concealed in the machines in a very similar fashion. Total 5.2 kg gold, valued at Rs 2.78 crore, was seized in this case.
Lear MoreRM2mil worth of contraband cigarettes seized in Kepong Baru
KUALA LUMPUR: The Central Brigade General Operations Force (GOF) crippled a cigarette-smuggling syndicate with the seizure of 8,207 cartons of various brands of the contraband, estimated to be worth RM2mil, in Kepong Baru, here, on Monday (May 9).
Cheras PGA Central Brigade commander Senior Asst ZulkifliJonit, in a statement, said a 55-year-old local man had been detained to assist investigation.
He said apart from the cigarettes, the PGA team also seized a mobile phone and an Isuzu D Max four-wheel-drive vehicle.
The syndicate is believed to have turned a rented house in a housing estate into a store to keep the smuggled cigarettes, he said, adding that the raid was conducted at the premises at about 11am.
He advised the public with information on smuggling activities to inform the police or the relevant authorities.- Bernama
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