Prohibited walkie-talkies, e-waste hard disks imported from China seized by DRI in Mumbai, 2 held

Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 11,060 prohibited walkie-talkie sets and second-hand hard disk drives (HDDs) collectively valued at Rs 9.25 crore at Nhava Sheva Port, officials said on Saturday.

The owners of the two Mumbai firms which had imported these good without due permissions are a father-son duo, and both were arrested under the Customs Act, said an official release.

Based on specific intelligence, a team of DRI officials seized Baofeng BF-888S walkie-talkies worth Rs 2.50 crore, and second-hand HDDs (which are considered as e-waste) valued at Rs 6.75 crore.

The contraband was concealed among miscellaneous electronic items valued at Rs 21 crore. The entire consignment worth Rs 30.25 crore from eight containers shipped from China was seized for misdeclaration, officials said.

The Baofeng BF-888S walkie-talkies have been blacklisted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for operating beyond permissible frequencies as they can be used for unauthorised communication, posing threat to national security. These devices require specific licences.

Second-hand HDDs too can not be imported without Directorate General of Foreign Trade's authorisation.