DRI foils cigarette smuggling bid at Bhubaneswar Airport, seizes ₹8 lakh contraband

Bhubaneswar, Sept 13: In a major crackdown on smuggling, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized a large consignment of foreign-origin cigarettes at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA), Bhubaneswar.

Officials said around 50,000 cigarette sticks, weighing nearly 58 kilograms and valued at approximately ₹8 lakh, were recovered from a passenger identified as Sarabjit Singh (63), who had arrived on a flight from Dubai.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Singh had planned to travel onward to Delhi by train, where the contraband was to be delivered to buyers in the capital’s illicit market. Authorities suspect that the seized cigarettes were part of a larger smuggling network, as foreign-branded cigarettes are often routed into India to avoid customs duty, causing huge revenue losses to the government.

Singh was taken into custody and later handed over to the Customs Department for detailed interrogation and further probe into possible links with organised smuggling syndicates.

Officials confirmed that a thorough investigation is underway to trace the source of the consignment and identify other individuals involved in the racket.