MP: DRI seizes over one lakh cigarettes of foreign brands

Over one lakh smuggled cigarettesof foreign brands, worth Rs 20 lakh, have been seized byofficials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)here in Madhya Pradesh, an official release said on Saturday.

DRI sleuths on Thursday searched various premises on atip off that a large quantity of the smuggled cigarettes havebeen kept in some godowns in Bhopal and found more than 1 lakhcigarettes of various brands, it said.

The value of the seizure is Rs 20 lakh, the releasesaid.

These cigarettes were illegally smuggled into Indiaand the packets do not carry the Cancer awareness images andpictorial warnings as mandated by the Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare, officials said.

The goods were seized under Customs Act 1962 read withCigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition ofAdvertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce,Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, as amended,and Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging andLabelling) Amendment Rules, 2020.

It was found during investigation that thesecigarettes were transported to Bhopal via Delhi, the releasesaid.