Cigarettes worth Tk 30cr brought on false declaration seized at Ctg port

Chattogram Custom House has seized a container of cigarettes worth Tk 30 crore which was imported under false declaration.

The container was imported as raw materials for the garments industry, Rezaul Karim, assistant commissioner of customs, told The Daily Star.

Customs sources said that a Dhaka-based trader, Hop-Yick (Bangladesh) Limited, declared 18.5 tonnes of raw materials for garments industry which arrived at Chattogram Port towards the end of October.

On information, customs officials of Audit, Research & Investigation (AIR) department on Thursday performed physical examination of the container at Chattogram Port and found 1.70 crore pieces of cigarettes in 850 boxes in the container.

The seized cigarettes were of different brands including Mond, 303 and Ories, officials said.

Legal action will be taken in this regard after investigation, Rezaul Karim said.

The tax rate hovers around 0 percent for raw materials of garments industry while it can go as high up as 600 percent in case of cigarette, customs officials said.

In this consignment, the importer tried to dodge duties worth Tk 25 crore, the officials also said.

As per the rules, if the quality of the cigarettes is found to be acceptable, the consignment will be sold to Bangladesh Tourism Corporation, otherwise it will be destroyed.