The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has carried out a series of operations across India, seizing foreign currency worth over Rs 3.5 crore, nearly 13,000 e-cigarettes valued at more than Rs 4 crore, 6.642 kg of amphetamine and two elephant tusks, the Ministry of Finance said in separate releases on Tuesday, November 10. The operations were conducted in Kolkata, Bhopal, Assam and at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Maharashtra.
Source: ANI via Devdiscourse
Kolkata: currency hidden in notebooks, bags and shoes
Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officers intercepted seven passengers in the early hours of November 6 at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata, as they travelled to Bangkok. Searches of the passengers, their hand baggage and checked-in baggage recovered US dollars and British pounds collectively valued at Rs 3.12 crore, concealed inside notebooks, in two-layered hidden compartments of trolley bags, in shoes and in clothes packed in baggage, the Finance Ministry release said. On enquiry, the passengers could not produce any documents to establish ownership or lawful possession of the currency.
Source: PIB / Ministry of Finance release via India Education Diary
All seven were arrested and charged with smuggling out the foreign currency in contravention of the Customs Act read with FEMA regulations. In a separate interception at the same airport, officers recovered foreign currency worth a further Rs 0.39 crore from other passengers, taking the total seizure at Kolkata airport to about Rs 3.51 crore.
JNPT: 13,000 banned e-cigarettes declared as 'mop rods'
At Jawaharlal Nehru Port, DRI seized about 13,000 e-cigarettes from an import consignment that had been mis-declared as 'mop rods'. The consignment contained 6,000 e-cigarettes of one brand and 7,000 of another, concealed at the end of the container behind the declared cargo, and the goods were collectively valued at over Rs 4 crore. Electronic cigarettes and all Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems are prohibited in India under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act, 2019. In 2026-27 so far, the DRI has seized about 3.55 lakh e-cigarettes worth more than Rs 135 crore at ports, airports and inland container depots.
Bhopal bus and Assam tusks
Separately, DRI officers intercepted a passenger travelling by bus from Delhi to Bhopal on November 5 and recovered 6.642 kg of amphetamine in three bright silver-coloured plastic packets concealed in his luggage. Field testing with an NDPS field test kit confirmed amphetamine, a psychotropic substance controlled under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and the passenger was arrested under the Act. The investigation revealed that the man was already out on bail in another NDPS case registered by Bengaluru Police, the ministry said.
Source: PIB / Ministry of Finance release via India Education Diary
In Assam, DRI officers foiled a wildlife trafficking attempt near the Sonapur toll gate, about 27 kilometres from Guwahati, on November 5. Five suspects on two two-wheelers brandished a khukri and a dao before abandoning a bag and escaping into a nearby village. The bag contained two elephant tusks, 29 and 30 inches long and weighing about 3.7 kg in all. The tusks were seized under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and handed over to the Assam Forest Department. Elephants are protected under Schedule I of the Act and Appendix I of CITES, and trade in articles derived from them is prohibited in India.
The DRI said it remains committed to dismantling organised networks behind the illicit outflow of foreign currency, drug trafficking and illegal trade through intelligence-led enforcement.