Smuggled Foreign Cigarettes Worth Rs 6.33 Crore Seized

Hyderabad, Dec 2: In a major crackdown, the officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized smuggled foreign cigarettes worth Rs 6.33 crore from several places in Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts.

These cigarettes are being brought without paying customs duty and thus were causing a loss to the government exchequer. Also, they do not carry statutory pictorial warnings about the ill-effects of cigarettes on health.

The DRI sleuths and the police intercepted a container moving suspiciously near Shamshabad and found that it contained huge quantity of foreign cigarettes smuggled into the country. The officials said that to avoid detection, the smugglers have kept the cigarettes in special packs.

An unspecified number of persons were taken into custody and are being questioned. Further probe is on.