KOCHI: While ‘Operation Numkhor’ resulted in seizure of 36 high-end vehicles allegedly smuggled into India as second-hand imports, in a single day, the operation was the culmination of meticulous planning and a 5 to 6 month-long investigation by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, targeting a Coimbatore-based gang.
“Based on intelligence from multiple sources, including the DRI, we confirmed that high-end cars were being smuggled into India via the Indo-Bhutan border. This led to a coordinated crackdown ‘Operation Numkhor.’ In Bhutan’s Dzongkha language, Numkhor means vehicle,” said Customs Preventive Commissioner T Tiju.
Tiju said intelligence inputs pointed to a Coimbatore-based gang involved in smuggling vehicles from Bhutan into India, with strong connections to high-net-worth individuals. Based on this, the team estimated that around 200 such illegal vehicles were brought to Kerala alone. Further probe revealed the gang moved both Indian and foreign currency to Bhutan to fund smuggling operations.
“The vehicles were brought into India in three ways—either in completely knocked down condition, inside containers, or disguised as tourist vehicles, which were left in India by the travellers. Most transactions were conducted illegally, with no financial trail. Nearly 90 percent of the vehicles were registered under false ownership or addresses,” he said.
Tiju added that the gang used forged documents to mislead buyers, employing fake seals and insignias of the Indian Army and the Indian and American embassies. Some vehicles were fraudulently registered on the Parivahan portal. For instance, a car manufactured in 2014 was shown as first registered in 2005. “This might have been done through hacking or other forms of document fraud. The government and authorities concerned need to investigate this,” he said.
Some vehicles seized at the border were also suspected of carrying gold and drugs, raising potential national security concerns. He noted that more details would emerge only as the probe progresses.