Customs busts illegal Agarbatti import racket
In a major drive against the smuggling of Agarrbattis from Vietnam, Customs officers on Wednesday arrested Bharat H. Shah and his son, Shri Ronik Shah at Chennai after seizing 161.94 MT of Agarbattis and 68.36 MT of Agarbatti Powder which was found concealed in containers imported by M/s. Indian Agarbatti Manufacturers, Bangalore.
This is one of the biggest seizures of restricted items in recent times at the port.
The importer had declared to the customs that these containers contained Joss powder and Premix powder for making incense sticks. Joss powder is normally chargeable to 15 percent customs duty but the duty is ‘Nil’ under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with ASEAN which includes Vietnam.
The importer was thus trying to take advantage of the FTA as well as use the items covered thereunder to conceal and smuggle restricted Agarbattis; Agarbattis are placed in the restricted category since August last year and cannot be imported without a license.
Acting on solid input that some unscrupulous importers were clandestinely smuggling Agarbattis from Vietnam after the item was restricted for import, the Customs used data analytics to identify the suspect importer, M/s. Indian Agarbatti Manufacturers. Thereafter, a tight watch was kept on its six imported containers that had landed at the Chennai port.
Related Posts
Over 34 Lakh Fake Currency Seized In Guwahati; 2 Arrested
GUWAHATI: An East Guwahati Police District (EGPD) team of the Guwahati Police...
Police Seize Over 280 Bottles Of Smuggled Liquor
Police in Nyabihu District have impounded 287 bottles of smuggled liquor after it...
Salvatore Ferragamo intercepted 90,000 counterfeits in 2014
Italian luxury brand Salvatore Ferragamo has revealed the extent of its battle...
Mizoram: Drugs, cigarettes worth over Rs 5 crore seized from Champhai district.
In a major victoy in the war against drugs and smuggling, drugs and cigarettes...