The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized nearly 3 lakh electronic cigarettes and vaping devices worth around Rs 120 crore in a nationwide crackdown on an illegal vape smuggling network operating across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and West Bengal.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the operation was carried out over the past few days at multiple ports, airports and Inland Container Depots (ICDs), targeting attempts to smuggle banned nicotine products into the country.
The DRI, which functions under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), launched the operation after receiving specific intelligence inputs about suspicious import consignments being routed through various customs points.
“Acting on specific intelligence, DRI identified, tracked and intercepted multiple suspicious import consignments that were mis-declared to evade customs scrutiny,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
Officials said a detailed examination of the consignments led to the seizure of approximately 3,00,000 e-cigarettes and vape products of different brands, flavours and specifications.
Investigators also traced the supply chain and found that all the seized products originated from China. The consignments were allegedly concealed and imported under false declarations such as “furniture” and “metal chair parts” to avoid detection.
The government reiterated that electronic cigarettes and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) remain prohibited in India under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act, 2019.
The Finance Ministry said the law was enacted to safeguard public health and protect citizens from the harmful effects of nicotine addiction and vaping products.
(With inputs from ANI)