Customs Deptt prevents illegal export of 82.93 MT of onion worth Rs 49 lakh

 

 

 

 

 

 

Based on specific intelligence, the Nagpur Customs Commissionerate on Thursday prevented an attempt of illegal export of 82.93 MT of onion at Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai. The estimated market value of the confiscated onion is approximately Rs 49 lakh. As per the directions of Chief Commissioner of Customs, Nagpur Zone, K C Johny and under the guidance of Commissioner of Customs Sanjay Kumar and Additional Commissioner of Customs Peeyoush Bhati, the officers of Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB) of Nagpur Customs led by Assistant Commissioner Anjum Tadvi developed a credible intelligence that some exporters were attempting to export onion, which has been banned by the Government. It is important to note that the Union Government has banned the export of onions effective from December 8 to make the essential kitchen staple cheaper for domestic consumers. The department received the information that two exporters had cleared two refrigerated containers each from Nasik, declaring that they were exporting tomatoes to the UAE. On specific intelligence, these containers were kept on hold at Mumbai by the Officers of SIIB Nagpur. On a detailed examination of these four containers, it was found that in the 40 feet container each, the first four or five feet were tomatoes, packed in boxes but the rest of the container was filled with onions in 20 kg sacks and boxes marked as tomatoes.

 

The Customs Department officers seized the material following which a team of Custom officers comprising Manish Pandharpurkar, Shalik Nimje, Saurabh Srivastav, Sudhakar Barapatre, Shubham Panthi and Dushyant Patle conducted several searches at the premises of the exporters and Customs brokers involved in the smuggling racket across Mumbai and Nashik. Examination of the containers in which the material was being smuggled exposed the smuggling of onions under the guise of tomatoes. One of the senior officials on the condition of anonymity said that the Nagpur Customs Commissionerate jurisdiction extends up to Nashik and therefore after receiving specific intelligence, timely action was taken by the Nagpur Zone Customs Department. The officials worked overtime on Sunday and contacted the Nava Shiva Port officials and directed them to unloaded the three containers which were already on the ship for export. Afterwards, the containers were thoroughly examined and found that there were high quality onions in the containers.

 

Since the Government ban on onion exports, the instances of smuggling onions is on the rise using various methods.