Foreign cigarettes worth Rs1.76 cr seized, two held

Vijayawada: The officers of Customs Commissionerate (Preventive) Vijayawada, along with officers of the Anti-Evasion, Guntur Central GST commissionerate successfully conducted a joint operation in Vijayawada and detected smuggling of foreign origin cigarettes and seized 17.6 lakh cigarette sticks of PARIS brand in Ramavarappadu.

On a tip-off, the officials conducted a raid, detained two persons and seized the stocks. Value of the seized cigarettes is estimated to be Rs1.76 crore.

The cigarette stocks with foreign markings were concealed in 88 high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sacks. The cigarettes lacked any statutory pictorial health warnings as mandated under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003. Commissioner of customs Sadhu Narasimha Reddy in a press release on Thursday said the seized cigarettes were found to be in violation of provisions of Customs Act, 1962, and were seized under Section 110 of the Act.

Two persons arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 were remanded to 14 days custody. The commissioner said these cigarettes pose a threat to public health and safety. He said importing cigarettes illegally is an offence and transportation of cigarettes without payment of tax is a crime and customs department would take action for it.

Narasimha Reddy further said the Customs Vijayawada team in this financial year 2024-25, so far seized 82.6 lakh smuggled cigarette sticks valued at Rs 8.26 crore.