Nine vendors challaned in Sector 26

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 26

A joint team of the Food Safety Department and the police conducted a special drive against vendors selling illegal imported cigarettes and other tobacco products in Sector 26 today. Nine vendors were challaned for selling illegal imported cigarettes.

Sources revealed that the vendors were selling brands like Win, Black, ESSE Lights, Paris, Mild Seven, Golden Elephant, Mond and Pine, among others.

The packs do not carry mandatory 85 per cent pictorial warnings as mandated under the The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act. These cigarettes are being smuggled from China, Malaysia and South Korea. Sources said illegal cigarette trade in Chandigarh is over Rs 5 crore.

On May 5, the UT Vigilance Department had raided several shops in Industrial Area, Phase I, Sector 22 and Sector 38, and seized duplicate imported cigarettes worth Rs 14.50 lakh. The vigilance team had registered an FIR in the case.