Chennai airport sees surge in fake cigarette smuggling

Officials say that the trend is indicative of knock-offs of Indian cigarettes manufactured at lower costs in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, sold at a cheaper rate here.
Image of smuggled cigarettes for representational purpose only.
Image of smuggled cigarettes for representational purpose only.
Updated on
2 min read

CHENNAI: It is not just gold smuggling that is lucrative for traders based in Chennai and Tamil Nadu; official data on seizures made by Chennai Customs shows an uptick in the number of cigarettes smuggled by passengers coming from South-east Asian countries.

Officials say that the trend is indicative of knock-offs of Indian cigarettes manufactured at lower costs in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, being dumped in India and sold at a cheaper rate to make a killing. This trend has also worried the Indian industry as they lose out on market share, officials said.

The counterfeits have even started replicating the Indian government-mandated warning pictures, though with lesser accuracy, say officials. Data show that the seizures of cigarettes went from Rs 2.31 crore in 2022 to Rs 4.58 crore in 2023 to Rs 5.07 crore in the first nine months of 2024 (data pertains to seizures by Chennai Airport Customs).

These seizures include foreign brands, counterfeit Indian brands form the majority, officials said. From the legal perspective, a passenger is allowed to bring in only 100 sticks and anything more is a violation under the Customs Act and Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). In August, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) also seized around 60 lakh counterfeit Indian cigarettes worth Rs 10 crore at Chennai Port from containers that had arrived from Thailand and Dubai.

According to senior officials, a misbranded Indian cigarette manufactured in south-east Asian countries costs Rs 4 per unit. Even after accounting for transport, its sale in Indian shops can yield a profit of Rs 10 per stick. A cigarette costs Rs 18-20 in Indian shops; even if these misbranded ones are sold for Rs 15, the smugglers make a big profit.

Cigarettes are expensive in India due to a sin tax and this turns out to be the profit margin made by manufacturing them abroad and smuggling it to India, officials added. This is an important reason why smugglers have also moved to cigarette trade as an alternative as margins on gold smuggling have reduced, a senior customs official told TNIE. Several such seizures have been reported by Tiruchy Airport Customs.

Dumping of misbranded counterfeit Indian branded cigarettes has worried Indian manufacturers, who recently met with Chennai Customs to discuss this matter. Whenever DRI or customs seize such misbranded Indian cigarettes, the original manufacturers in India are summoned to certify if they are counterfeit. “Indian manufacturers are keen on ensuring that smuggling of counterfeits is stopped as they are losing out on market share,” an official said, adding that the companies liaise with DRI, customs and local police to help confiscate counterfeits.

To help agencies differentiate between the original cigarettes and misbranded counterfeits, manufacturers have issued a set of markers.

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