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Electronic items worth Rs. 1.5 cr. seized from three passengers

Staff Reporter

Three from Chennai held; goods were purchased from Singapore

Thiruvananthapuram: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized electronic goods worth more than Rs.1.5 crore from three passengers who alighted at the international airport here on Thursday.

The accused persons were identified as Sankar, Satheesh Mani and Sharafudeen. The DRI said the passengers had purchased the goods from Singapore for sale in the black market here. The goods included digital Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras, zoom lenses and digital music devices. The passengers were detained by the DRI when they arrived here from Colombo around 9 a.m.

An official said the goods were found concealed in the "check-in baggage" of the passengers. Each of the bags weighed 52 kg. The DRI suspects the accused to be professional carriers. An official said their passports showed frequent visits to Colombo, Singapore and Dubai. The three hail from Chennai. The accused were produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate court here on the charge of violating the Customs Act.

COFEPOSA proceedings

The DRI would initiate COFEPOSA proceedings against the accused, an official said. The increased vigil in Chennai airport was forcing carriers smuggling electronic goods to bring their wares into the country through airports in Kerala, the DRI officials said. The contraband goods are sold for lesser than the market price of duty-paid electronic items.

Last year, the DRI had exposed how importers avoided anti-dumping duty on Chinese goods by using forged documents to clear shipments from the Kochi seaport. The DRI also booked cases against certain exporters on the charge that they had imported vitrified tiles from China, an item on which there is an anti-dumping duty, by falsely declaring the shipments as ordinary tiles.

An official said costly computer hardware and medicines were also being smuggled into Kerala. In 2005, the DRI had intercepted Rs.88 lakh worth of computer components from the Nedumbassery air cargo complex. The consignment had been falsely declared as "personal effects" at the Air Customs check-post.

The same year, the DRI seized costly cancer drugs and anti-allergic ointments imported as unaccompanied baggage from Dubai. On inspection, it was found that the drugs had passed the expiry date and had been manufactured in Pakistan.

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