DRI Seizes 92 Lakh Cigarettes worth ₹18.2 Crore Smuggled from Dubai to India, Concealed as ‘Bathroom Fittings’

On June 23, 2025, officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Chennai Zonal Unit executed a high‐precision operation on the basis of specific intelligence that foreign‐origin cigarettes were being smuggled into India from Dubai under the guise of bathroom and sanitary fittings.

The DRI intercepted a container bound for ‘J-Matadee FTWZ’ and discovered a staggering 92.1 lakh sticks of cigarettes concealed among plumbing materials, with an estimated street value of ₹18.2 crore.

A detailed examination of the misdeclared consignment revealed a variety of international brands - ‘Manchester United Kingdom’, ‘Manchester United Kingdom Special Edition’ and ‘Mac Ice Superslims Cool Blast’ in place of the fittings that had been declared.

The cigarettes failed to comply with the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, primarily with regards to the lack of mandatory statutory health warnings. The entire contraband was seized under the provisions of the CustomsAct, 1962, and further investigation is underway to trace the syndicate behind this elaborate ruse.

This seizure forms part of a sustained campaign by the DRI to disrupt illicit tobacco trafficking via southern ports. In the past year alone, Chennai‐based units have intercepted a total of 4.4 crore cigarette sticks comprising both genuine foreign‐origin and counterfeit, bearing a total valuation of approximately ₹79.67 crore, highly indicative of the scale that the threat smuggling operations pose to India’s fiscal and public‐health interests.

Industry sources at ITC Ltd. have warned that the smuggling of misbranded Indian cigarettes from South-East Asia and the Middle East inflicts an annual tax revenue loss of nearly ₹21,000 crore and provides funding channels for terrorist networks. DRI’s own data indicates that 9.1 crore cigarette sticks worth roughly ₹179 crore were seized in anti-smuggling operations conducted from 2023–24, with over half of that volume intercepted at sea ports.

The lucrative margins of profit per smuggled stick, estimated to be around ₹10 profit per stick, even after logistics costs as compared to steep domestic excise duties that serve as a the key driving force behind the illicit operations.

Lower manufacturing costs abroad and the absence of packaging and labelling compliance further incentivize criminal cartels to exploit air, sea and land routes, including speed post, to penetrate Indian markets.

The latest incident is just another example of the various concealment methods used by the miscreants, all of which are sought to be traced and pursued by India’s intelligence agencies.

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