15 lakh cigarettes seized, one held

AHMEDABAD: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Ahmedabad, arrested one Bharatkumar Patel of Sahaj Metal in a case of smuggling of cigarettes of foreign brand. DRI officials recovered 15 lakh sticks of cigarettes.
During investigation, DRI officials realised that Bharat was the mastermind behind the smuggling of cigarettes. He concealed them in aluminum scrap containers. Patel had even floated two dummy firms, including Dwarkesh Recycling and Shivanjali Corporation, for this purpose.
It was also revealed that in the past also Patel had smuggled cigarettes on several occasions by adopting the same modus operandi - concealing them in consignments of aluminium scrap imported in the name of the firms controlled by him which included Sahaj Metals, Shivanjali Corporation and Dwarkesh Recycling. The accused was produced in the court on Tuesday and remanded in judicial custody.
DRI had earlier got the intelligence input that foreign-made cigarettes would be smuggled through ICD, Khodiyar, by an Ahmedabad-based firm, namely, Dwarkesh Recycling by concealing them in two large containers claiming to contain aluminium scrap. DRI sleuths examined the two containers on two days from December 8.
The consignment was imported from Ali Port, Dubai. During inspection, the sleuths that the consignment contained around 15 lakh sticks of cigarettes of foreign brand along with aluminum scrap. The aluminium scrap and cigarettes were seized.