DRI seizes Chinese-origin fireworks worth Rs 12-Cr at Chennai Port

Hyderabad, Oct 6 (TNT): The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Hyderabad Zonal Unit, has seized Chinese-origin fireworks worth around Rs 12 crore at Chennai Port for allegedly being smuggled into the country through misdeclaration of the consignments as stationery and other goods.

Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officers conducted coordinated searches of suspected containers at Chennai Port and recovered large quantities of Chinese-origin pyrotechnic fireworks concealed behind cartons containing the declared cargo, the agency said in a release here on Tuesday.

The consignments were allegedly declared as stationery items, medical gloves, plastic clips, hair bands, storage wardrobes, shoe racks and other goods, it said.

Import of firecrackers and fireworks is restricted under the Foreign Trade Policy and requires valid authorisations from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) under the Explosives Rules, 2008.

As the consignments were imported without the requisite licences and involved misdeclaration and concealment, the fireworks were seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, the DRI said.

The agency said the seizure was part of its ongoing efforts to curb the smuggling of restricted and prohibited goods through intelligence-based and coordinated enforcement operations.

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