Bhubaneswar Airport Seizure: DRI Busts Foreign Cigarette Smuggling Racket
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized foreign cigarettes worth nearly Rs 10 lakh at Bhubaneswar Airport, exposing a suspected smuggling network operating between Dubai and India.
Officials detained five individuals from Rampur district in Uttar Pradesh after discovering bags filled with foreign cigarettes in their possession. During the search, authorities also confiscated two iPhone 17 devices.
Investigations revealed that the group frequently travelled between Dubai and Bhubaneswar, intending to transport the contraband by road to Kolkata for illegal sale.
In total, eight individuals arrived from Dubai, with large quantities of cigarettes also recovered from three others. Since those were country-made, officials imposed heavy fines before releasing them.
The seized items and detained persons have been handed over to the Customs department.
A detailed probe is underway to identify the wider smuggling racket, which authorities suspect is linked to organised black-market operations across multiple Indian cities.
