Wednesday, Apr 06, 2005
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By Our Staff Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 5. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has found that five international cargo containers imported from Dubai in March were smuggled out of the Kochi port by forging Customs examination and Port Authority documents. The authorities have no clue about the contents of the cargo containers taken out of the port by defrauding Customs, Port Trust and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel. So far, the DRI has arrested three persons in connection with the case. They have been identified as P.R. Ajeesh of Thiruvananthapuram and C.K. Boban and K. T. Charlie of Kochi. The accused have been charged with duty evasion and false declaration under the Customs Act. Boban and Charlie are import-export licence holders. The DRI suspects that the fraud was committed with the help of a prominent Customs House agent in Kochi who is reported to be absconding after the case came to light. A DRI official said the method of operation was to import goods in two cargo containers at the same time. The container holding goods that matched the declaration given by the importer is presented for Customs examination. The "illegal" cargo container that is not presented for Customs examination is smuggled out of the port using forged documents. The racketeers then wait till the Customs officials change shift. The container that has already been inspected is presented again for Customs examination. The duty on the goods is paid for a second time and the container taken out of the port in a legal manner. "On record, it looks as if both the containers have been duly examined and cleared," a DRI official said. The fraud could have been detected if the authorities had verified the code number painted on the international transport containers before giving Customs clearance. The "bill of lading" presented to the Port Authority when the containers were unloaded from the ships showed that the cargo in the containers that were not inspected was ceramic tiles. The accused told the DRI that the cargo in the "missing" containers were Chinese electronic goods on which there is a high anti-dumping duty. The usual method of operation to avoid anti-dumping duty is to alter the name of the country where the goods were produced in the documents presented to the Customs. "We suspect that the accused did not want the contents of the illegal containers to be revealed. It is an issue of national security," an official said. The DRI has alerted intelligence agencies of the racket that is suspected to have been on for the past several years. The Central Bureau of Investigation would probe the forgery and criminal angle of the case once the DRI submits its report.
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