Customs officials at Kempegowda International Airport in Devanahalli have seized 88 lakh cigarettes valued at ₹10.21 crore between April and September of the current financial year, marking a significant rise in illegal tobacco smuggling. The department reported a 57 percent increase in the quantity of seized cigarettes compared to the same period last year, when 56.05 lakh cigarettes were confiscated.
A senior officer from the Customs Department noted that while approximately ₹1.31 crore worth of cigarettes were seized in the entire previous financial year, the current six-month period has already seen the seizure of 88 lakh units. The number of cases registered for cigarette smuggling has also risen to 297 this year, up from 283 cases in the same period last year, which involved the seizure of cigarettes worth ₹7.98 crore.
Officials stated that the majority of the illegal shipments arrive on flights from Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United Arab Emirates. Investigations are currently underway into potential supply routes from China via Cambodia. Authorities suspect that a large portion of the seized stock consists of counterfeit products, as they fail to comply with the mandatory requirement to print health warning images and messages covering 85 percent of the packet surface. Such non-compliant items are treated as prohibited goods under the Customs Act.
International passengers are permitted to carry a maximum of 100 cigarettes, 25 cigars, or 125 grams of tobacco for personal use, subject to legal regulations. Smuggling cases involving goods valued over ₹50 lakh are classified as cognizable and bailable offenses, allowing for arrest, while cases exceeding ₹1 crore are deemed cognizable and non-bailable, resulting in the immediate production of accused persons in court.
As part of anti-smuggling operations, customs officers destroyed 14.66 lakh cigarettes and 3,000 e-cigarettes that were seized on October 13. The department also reported a surge in the illegal transport of electronic cigarettes, with the number of cases detected in September nearly doubling compared to August. A total of 179 cases related to e-cigarette smuggling were registered between April and September, leading to the seizure of 46,582 devices. Officials emphasized that the import, export, sale, and storage of e-cigarettes are prohibited by law in India, and a case can be registered even if a single device is found, though large-scale illegal trafficking has been observed at the airport.
