HYDERABAD: One of the two kingpins involved in illegally procuring premium liquor brands from duty-free shops at the airport and selling them in commercial markets, was caught by Telangana State Prohibition and Excise department.
On Wednesday night, the department cracked down on a cartel, which used passports of unsuspecting air passengers returning from abroad to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad, to procure liquor from duty-free shops there and sell it for profits of `5,000 or more outside. The same, as per officials, brought a revenue loss of Rs 3-5 crore to the state government.
The cartel involved officials from Customs and Central Excise, employees at the airport and civilians.
On Wednesday, customs officials were arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Out of the two kingpins involved in selling the bottles for profits in commercial markets, one was caught.
After the crackdown, measures have been initiated to cross check whether the bottles were sold to air passengers. Apart from giving passports and air tickets for scanning to buy liquor at the stores, passengers returning from abroad might have to sign and give their address too.
As per existing procedure, any passenger returning from foreign country have to hand over their passports to buy alcohol at duty-free shops.
As per modus operandi of the the cartel, passports of air passengers were scanned and returned to them immediately. The scanned copies were used by the cartel to procure liquor at duty-free shops and sell it in commercial markets for profits. Sources in the Prohibition and Excise Department said that such measures (sign and address) would help them in cross checking if a passenger has really bought liquor from the shops.