Based on a specific intelligence that a huge quantity of foreign-origin cigarettes smuggled from Myanmar into India was being transported from Assam to Uttar Pradesh, concealed in a truck under cover of bamboo cuts, officers of DRI mounted surveillance on the National Highway 27 in Gorakhpur, on the lookout for any suspected vehicle coming from Assam.

 

After keeping a vigil for about 12 hours, a suspect truck/container was identified and intercepted by the officers in the early hours of 23.05.2026.

A thorough search of the truck revealed that it was loaded with 9.42 MT of bamboo cuts and had an ingeniously built secret cavity behind the driver’s cabin made using welded steel partitions. Inside the said cavity, 30 cartons containing 3,00,000 sticks of foreign origin cigarettes of the brand ESSE Lights Super Slim were recovered.

The recovered 3,00,000 sticks of foreign origin cigarettes, valued at approximately ₹ 45 Lakhs, were seized under the provisions of Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962 and the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003. Further investigation in the matter is underway. 

With the latest seizure, DRI has now seized a total of 15,32,000 sticks of smuggled foreign origin cigarettes, valued at ₹ 2.32 Crore, in various cases in the last eight months in Uttar Pradesh.

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