News Analysis India

Tag: smuggling

  • Not Guns Or Drugs, A California Man Got Arrested For Smuggling Greenhouse Gases | world news

    In an interesting turn of events, a Californian man came under the legal scrutiny for smuggling Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), marking a unique legal hunt in the US. Michael Hart stands accused of purchasing canisters containing banned refrigerants or coolants from Mexico, typically used in outdated air conditioning units and refrigerators, and importing them into the US concealed in his car.

    The US Attorney for the Southern District of California, Tara McGrath, was reported emphasizing the significance of this case, stating, “This is the first time the Department of Justice is prosecuting someone for illegally importing greenhouse gases, and it will not be the last. .” McGrath highlighted the importance of using all available means to safeguard the planet from the adverse effects of toxic pollutants, including pursuing criminal charges.

    What is Michael Hart accused of?

    Hart, aged 58, appeared in a San Diego court on March 4, facing allegations of smuggling and illegally selling numerous canisters of the banned refrigerants in the latter half of 2022. He reportedly smuggled these substances under tarpaulin sheets and tools, selling them online through platforms like OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace.

    What are Banned Refrigerants?

    The refrigerants involved in this case are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and a variant of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) known as HCFC 22. These chemicals gained prominence in the 1990s as alternatives to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), following research that linked CFCs to the depletion of the ozone. layer, particularly over Antarctica.

    Hart's indictment includes charges such as conspiracy, illegally importing regulated goods, and selling illegally imported goods. If convicted, he could face penalties as severe as 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, along with criminal forfeiture. His next court hearing is scheduled for March 25, underscoring the serious nature of the allegations against him.

  • DRI seizes foreign cigarettes worth Rs 24 crore in Mumbai; five arrested

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Mumbai, has seized 1.2 crore sticks of foreign origin cigarettes with an estimated market value of Rs 24 crore and arrested five persons including an importer for allegedly trying to smuggle them, the DRI said on Sunday.

    These cigarettes are banned for import into India due to their non-compliance with Indian standards, the DRI said in a release.

    Based on specific intelligence, the contraband was seized from a container that was supposed to be trans-shipped to Arshiya Free Trade Warehousing Zone (FTWZ) for further clearance, it said.

    The DRI officials maintained a discrete vigil on the container’s movement.

    It was found that after the container left the Nhava Sheva Port in Navi Mumbai, instead of reaching its destination, the same was diverted to a private godown while it was en route to Arshiya FTWZ.

    The DRI officials then intercepted the container at the godown, the release said.

    The entire 40-feet container was found to be stuffed with foreign-origin cigarettes which are banned for import into India due to their non-compliance with Indian standards, it said.

    The syndicate had planned to smuggle the cigarettes by removing them from the container and replacing the same with goods declared in import documents in order to hoodwink customs authorities, the release said.

    The godown was already stocked with the declared goods which were supposed to be stuffed in the container after removing the cigarettes before the container was taken into Arshiya FTZ.

    A total of 1.07 crore sticks of foreign-origin cigarettes of various brands were recovered from the container, the DRI said.

    In a swift follow-up operation, another stash of 13 lakh cigarettes of foreign origin which were smuggled earlier by the same syndicate was seized from another godown, the release added.

    MUMBAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Mumbai, has seized 1.2 crore sticks of foreign origin cigarettes with an estimated market value of Rs 24 crore and arrested five persons including an importer for allegedly trying to smuggle them, the DRI said on Sunday.

    These cigarettes are banned for import into India due to their non-compliance with Indian standards, the DRI said in a release.

    Based on specific intelligence, the contraband was seized from a container that was supposed to be trans-shipped to Arshiya Free Trade Warehousing Zone (FTWZ) for further clearance, it said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The DRI officials maintained a discrete vigil on the container’s movement.

    It was found that after the container left the Nhava Sheva Port in Navi Mumbai, instead of reaching its destination, the same was diverted to a private godown while it was en route to Arshiya FTWZ.

    The DRI officials then intercepted the container at the godown, the release said.

    The entire 40-feet container was found to be stuffed with foreign-origin cigarettes which are banned for import into India due to their non-compliance with Indian standards, it said.

    The syndicate had planned to smuggle the cigarettes by removing them from the container and replacing the same with goods declared in import documents in order to hoodwink customs authorities, the release said.

    The godown was already stocked with the declared goods which were supposed to be stuffed in the container after removing the cigarettes before the container was taken into Arshiya FTZ.

    A total of 1.07 crore sticks of foreign-origin cigarettes of various brands were recovered from the container, the DRI said.

    In a swift follow-up operation, another stash of 13 lakh cigarettes of foreign origin which were smuggled earlier by the same syndicate was seized from another godown, the release added.

  • Punjab: BSF recovers drugs, arms after gunfight with smugglers along Pak border

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: The BSF on Saturday recovered 20 packets of heroin and a cache of arms and ammunition after a gunfight with Pakistani smugglers along the international border of India and Pakistan in Punjab’s Gurdaspur, an official said.

    The gunfight began when the 113 Battalion of the Border Security Force noticed suspicious movement of smugglers ahead of fencing in the area near Khasawali village in the Gurdaspur district early morning, said the official.

    “During patrolling in the dense fog at 5.30 am, BSF constable Hem Ram noticed some suspicious movement. As he challenged them, the smugglers from the Pakistani side opened fire. Our jawan retaliated with 25 rounds,” BSF Deputy Inspector General Prabhakar Joshi told reporters in Gurdaspur.

    Joshi said a team led by a patrol commander soon joined them and helped in the gunfight, which went on for a “long time.”

    Later, in a search operation, the force found a 15-foot-long pipe about 30 metres away from the fencing, with 20 packets of heroin in it, said Joshi.

    A further search of the area led to the recovery of two pistols (one made in Turkey and the other Made in China), six magazines, and 242 live rounds, said the BSF DIG.

    Joshi also said that they are finding out about Indians who crossed the border and are engaged in smuggling narcotics to this side.

    The BSF has also shared information about the Saturday incident with the Punjab Police, he said, adding they are making efforts to nab the Indian receivers of the consignment.

    In another incident, the BSF said its troops opened fire at a Pakistani drone in the area falling under Ramdas Police Station, adding that a search operation was underway.

    CHANDIGARH: The BSF on Saturday recovered 20 packets of heroin and a cache of arms and ammunition after a gunfight with Pakistani smugglers along the international border of India and Pakistan in Punjab’s Gurdaspur, an official said.

    The gunfight began when the 113 Battalion of the Border Security Force noticed suspicious movement of smugglers ahead of fencing in the area near Khasawali village in the Gurdaspur district early morning, said the official.

    “During patrolling in the dense fog at 5.30 am, BSF constable Hem Ram noticed some suspicious movement. As he challenged them, the smugglers from the Pakistani side opened fire. Our jawan retaliated with 25 rounds,” BSF Deputy Inspector General Prabhakar Joshi told reporters in Gurdaspur.

    Joshi said a team led by a patrol commander soon joined them and helped in the gunfight, which went on for a “long time.”

    Later, in a search operation, the force found a 15-foot-long pipe about 30 metres away from the fencing, with 20 packets of heroin in it, said Joshi.

    A further search of the area led to the recovery of two pistols (one made in Turkey and the other Made in China), six magazines, and 242 live rounds, said the BSF DIG.

    Joshi also said that they are finding out about Indians who crossed the border and are engaged in smuggling narcotics to this side.

    The BSF has also shared information about the Saturday incident with the Punjab Police, he said, adding they are making efforts to nab the Indian receivers of the consignment.

    In another incident, the BSF said its troops opened fire at a Pakistani drone in the area falling under Ramdas Police Station, adding that a search operation was underway.

  • Six trucks smuggling areca nuts from Myanmar torched in Mizoram

    By Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Six trucks, smuggling dry areca nuts from Myanmar, were burnt down in Mizoram’s Mamit district by miscreants on Saturday. The incident occurred between Zawlnuam and Zamuang villages. 

    Superintendent of Police Lalthangpuii Pulamte said nobody was injured. 

    “We haven’t been able to identify the ones transporting the products. We also haven’t been able to ascertain where the vehicles were destined to,” the SP said.

    The smuggled areca nut trade thrives in India at the cost of local growers. Two days ago, Mizoram MP K Vanlalvena raised the issue in Parliament. He had insisted the smuggling of areca nuts from Myanmar needed to be stopped.

    “I kindly request the Indian government to not be confused. Our own areca product and foreign areca product are two different things. Foreign areca product is dry. Our native product is fresh,” the MP had said.

    Vanlalvena said the areca nut growers in Mizoram were facing a lot of hardships after failing to transport their products outside the state. He lauded the central government for its various measures against smuggling.

    The areca nut growers in Mizoram as well as Tripura expressed anguish that their products, transported in trucks, are often seized by the police and other agencies in Assam, due to their inability to distinguish between homegrown areca nuts and the smuggled products.

    Earlier, the Home Ministry had reportedly issued instructions to crack down on trucks smuggling areca nuts.

    Last month, areca nut growers in Mizoram staged a protest for several days against the government’s failure to address their plight.

    GUWAHATI: Six trucks, smuggling dry areca nuts from Myanmar, were burnt down in Mizoram’s Mamit district by miscreants on Saturday. The incident occurred between Zawlnuam and Zamuang villages. 

    Superintendent of Police Lalthangpuii Pulamte said nobody was injured. 

    “We haven’t been able to identify the ones transporting the products. We also haven’t been able to ascertain where the vehicles were destined to,” the SP said.

    The smuggled areca nut trade thrives in India at the cost of local growers. Two days ago, Mizoram MP K Vanlalvena raised the issue in Parliament. He had insisted the smuggling of areca nuts from Myanmar needed to be stopped.

    “I kindly request the Indian government to not be confused. Our own areca product and foreign areca product are two different things. Foreign areca product is dry. Our native product is fresh,” the MP had said.

    Vanlalvena said the areca nut growers in Mizoram were facing a lot of hardships after failing to transport their products outside the state. He lauded the central government for its various measures against smuggling.

    The areca nut growers in Mizoram as well as Tripura expressed anguish that their products, transported in trucks, are often seized by the police and other agencies in Assam, due to their inability to distinguish between homegrown areca nuts and the smuggled products.

    Earlier, the Home Ministry had reportedly issued instructions to crack down on trucks smuggling areca nuts.

    Last month, areca nut growers in Mizoram staged a protest for several days against the government’s failure to address their plight.

  • This is how BSF nabbed Pakistani smuggler from Punjab border fence in a first-of-its-kind op

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: In a first-of-its-kind operation, anti-narcotics agencies have nabbed a Pakistani national while attempting to smuggle drugs from along the India-Pakistan border fence in Punjab, officials said on Saturday.

    Twenty-eight-year-old Amjad Ali alias Majid Jutt, a resident of Kharak village in Lahore, was nabbed by the Border Security Force (BSF) troops in the Khemkaran front area of Ferozepur district on the intervening night of April 6-7 when he and his associates were about to push in over 20 kg of heroin from under the fence to their Indian contacts.

    A total of 20.5 kg of heroin, a mobile phone, a power bank and a 13-feet-long PVC pipe (used to push in drug packets from under the border fence) were recovered by the BSF from Ali, they said.

    As it was a case “of utmost importance related to inter-border drug trafficking”, the probe was handed over to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), deputy director general (north) of the central agency Gyaneshwar Singh said.

    “It is an international drugs syndicate working from across the border. Suppliers are sitting across the fence and pushing in the drugs into India,” he said.

    In a video provided by the NCB, the arrested Pakistani national confesses to have been nabbed by BSF troops in the dead of the night on the said day from the “zero line” of India-Pakistan border.

    Seen handcuffed and flanked by NCB officers, he claims in the video that while he and his two associates were about to push in drugs to the Indian side, the BSF fired and the two men with him and those on the Indian side fled as he ducked to save himself.

    “The BSF caught me after opening the gates of the border fence,” he is heard saying.

    NCB deputy director (operations) K P S Malhotra said this was the “first operation in which a Pakistani national was arrested alive” from the international front area.

    There have been numerous instances of the BSF shooting dead drug smugglers along this border in the past.

    Malhotra said a man identified as Jarnail Singh has also been arrested by the NCB from Vadodara in Gujarat on Saturday on leads provided by the Pakistani man.

    Jarnail Singh, the receiver of the 20.5 kg heroin being smuggled from across the India-Pakistan border that day, is a resident of Ferozepur and has been absconding since the BSF nabbed the Pakistani man, he said.

    “Amjad Ali was put to sustained interrogation, which led to unearthing of the entire drug syndicate, which is being controlled by two Pakistani nationals who are, residents of Lahore and Kasur districts of Pakistan.” 

    “The Indian side receivers have also been identified. Raids have been conducted at possible hideouts in Punjab and Gujarat,” Malhotra said.

    The NCB said it will “also raise this issue at appropriate international forums and will also seek assistance in arrest of the Pakistani nationals who are involved with Amjad Ali in drug trafficking”.

    We are going to take the help of Interpol to nab and nail the international operatives of this syndicate, Gyaneshwar Singh said.