The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has uncovered a large-scale racket in which areca nuts sourced from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and other South-East Asian countries were allegedly imported into India by falsely declaring Bangladesh as their country of origin, causing a potential customs revenue loss of more than Rs 2,500 crore, according to a Ministry of Finance press release, issued on Sunday.
The intelligence-led operation has led to the arrest of nine people, seizure of around Rs 75 lakh in cash and approximately 160 metric tonnes of areca nuts, the ministry said. The Customs Broker licence of a firm allegedly responsible for clearing most of the fraudulent consignments identified in the case has also been suspended.
