Thousands of cigarettes of a very popular South Korean super slim brand were seized by Indian Customs authorities at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport from two Indian passengers travelling from Bahrain on Sunday.
More than 16,000 packets of Esse Golden Leaf cigarettes, manufactured by Korea Tobacco and Ginseng Corporation (KT&G), were seized on the basis of spot profiling, according to a statement released by New Delhi Customs.
In the past year, officials have thwarted several attempts to smuggle the cigarettes into India.
In March, the airport authorities seized about 47,680 packets, while in January, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in Mumbai seized smuggled South Korean cigarettes worth more than BD100,000, hidden in a shipping container declared as Chinese carpets.
The cigarette brand has grown in popularity because their packs do not feature gory pictorial warnings which have become mandatory in India since 2010.
The smuggling bids were also allegedly being done in order to avoid paying a higher rate of duty imposed by the Indian government on tobacco-based products.
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