Page 112 - SMUGGLING IN INDIA REPORT FOR 2020-2021

66 2020-2021 SMUGGLING IN INDIA REPORT
importers in eight containers. On detailed examination, it was found that the importers declared 156 MT of “Coconut Expeller Cake” for import into thecountry.However,only43MT was as per the declared Cargo, i.e., “Coconut Expeller Cake”, the remaining 113 MT being “Areca Nuts” of 90/95 grade of Indonesian Origin on which customs duty evaded worked out to Rs. 3.25 Cr. When the containers were examined, first two rows in the containers were loaded with “Coconut Expeller Cake” and the remaining rows were loaded with Areca nuts. The masterminds were intercepted in Kerala by a DRI team. In November 2020, DRI detected smuggling of areca nuts worth Rs. 48 lakh concealed in import consignment of cattle feed.
A case was booked by DRI in August 2020, wherein examination of two railway parcel vans at Bairabi railway station resulted in recovery of 800 bags (40,000 kg) of dried areca nuts of Myanmar origin, worth Rs. 1.14 crore.
In March 2021, DRI recovered betel nuts totally weighing 54,380 kg valued at Rs. 1.72 crore from two trucks, intercepted at Nagpur. The betel nuts were loaded in trucks in Mizoram near the India-Myanmar border, while tax invoices and e-way bills for movement to Nagpur were handed over at Cachar in Assam. In another case, in March 2021, 2400 kg of areca nuts of foreign origin were seized from a truck by DRI officers.
Black Pepper
Indian black-pepper growers have been concerned over cheap imports finding their way into the country, mostly through free trade agreements (FTAs) but through illegal routes as well. Indian pepper has suffered a sharp erosion in domestic prices as unrestricted dumping of Vietnamese pepper — via Nepal and Sri Lanka — has gained momentum in the last couple of years. The Indian spice that commanded a price as high as Rs. 694 per kg in 2016-17, had