AHMEDABAD: Gujarat is fast becoming the preferred transit point for cigarette smugglers in the country. Over the past three months alone, the Ahmedabad unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized — in three different operations — 3.39 crore cigarette sticks worth Rs 24.79 crore from smugglers.
High customs and excise duties on imported cigarettes makes smuggling lucrative. Also high demand inside the country for foreign cigarettes has led to the rise in smuggling. “Until 2014, cigarette smuggling was miniscule in terms of quantity and value but this year it has increased manifold,” said a source.
In what could be termed as the largest ever single haul of foreign-made cigarettes in the country, the DRI had seized 3.21 crore of sticks worth Rs 23.29 crore from Hazira port in Surat in the last week of March this year. These seized cigarettes were bought from Dubai. Boxes of Gudang Garam, Djarum Black, and a mild Indonesian clove cigarette, Luvin Fresh, were hidden in a consignment packed with papers and plastics.
The lure of puffing foreign cigarettes is also being felt in small cities. Import duties as high as 90% and excise duty raised by 25% in the 2015-16 Budget have led to an increase in domestic prices. This has made smuggling of cigarettes even more attractive.
“A packet of foreign cigarettes available for Rs 100 in Dubai is sold for Rs 190 in India,” said a DRI official. “There is a nexus between exporters and importers in Dubai for the smuggling of foreign cigarettes into India.”
Mehul Pujara who was arrested for smuggling had revealed that these foreign-made cigarettes are in high demand among youngsters, especially girls in the metros.
According to experts, cigarettes can be imported under open general licence, a permit that does not impose any export obligation on the importer after the payment of the relevant duty.
