Customs seizes 4.5 lakh cigarette sticks from Covid-19 special train at old Delhi railway station

Customs preventive officials have seized 4.5 lakh cigarette sticks illegally brought in a COVID special train at old Delhi Railway Station, officials said on Wednesday.

The cigarette sticks of ‘Paris’ brand, valued at Rs 40 lakh, were packed in 15 cartons. It is suspected that they have been smuggled into the country from neighbouring Bangladesh, they said.

These cartons were recovered from a goods compartment of a train - that runs from Howrah to Amritsar via Delhi to ferry passengers during coronavirus-induced national lockdown -from the old Delhi Railway Station on Tuesday, the officials said.

The cigarettes of Bangladesh-origin are suspected to have been smuggled into the country through the porous India-Bangladesh border in Howrah, they said.

The officials said the parcels containing cigarettes were booked from Howrah to Varanasi and then from there to Delhi in a bid to dodge the customs authorities.

“No arrests have been made so far. Further investigation in the case is continuing,” an official said.

Foreign-brand cigarettes are in demand in the country’s grey market as they are of good quality and nicely packed, he said.

“Whereas, cigarettes produced and packed in India have to mandatorily mention specified health warning, both in pictorial and text formats, that acts as a source of discouragement for the smokers,” the official said.

Further, there is a requirement of a declaration for imported cigarette packs under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011. The declaration on the packs should contain the name and address of the manufacturer or importer or packer, quantity of the product, month and year of manufacturing or pre-packing or importation and the retail sale price, among others.

Customs officials have been seizing cigarettes of foreign origin, in some cases of the same ‘Paris’ brand, from other places as well.

They had last year seized large number of Paris brand cigarettes, in two incidents, from Bengaluru.