Trading racket of prohibited cigarettes busted

A syndicate involved in the illegal trade of prohibited international brands of cigarettes had been busted, police officials said on Sunday. Four persons were arrested and over 6.5 lakh cigarettes worth Rs 66 lakh were seized in raids conducted in the Lahori Gate area of Old Delhi.

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The arrested, identified as Anas, Saqib, Sameer Ur Rehman, and Sagar Haswani, were a part of a network operating between Guwahati, diffferent parts of Assam and Delhi. The group dealt in prohibited cigarettes lacking the statutory health warnings mandated by the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA).

DCP (Crime Branch), Sanjay Kumar Sain, said that the operation was initiated based on a tip-off. “A secret tip-off about the arrival of a large stock of prohibited cigarettes from Guwahati led to the successful operation. Timely action prevented these illegal products from being distributed to smaller markets,” he said.

On December 12, two separate raids were carried out by the Crime Branch team of Delhi Police. In the first raid at a godown in Lahori Gate, the police uncovered 4.7 lakh Esse Lights cigarettes and 80,000 DJARUM Black cigarettes. This storage facility was being operated jointly by Anas and Saqib. The second raid targeted a premises in Gali Samose Waali of Lahori Gate, where 1,00,800 Gudang Garam cigarettes were recovered. This location was managed by Sameer.

“All the recovered cigarette packets were found without statutory warnings and were stored for distribution to local retailers. A case was registered under sections of the COTPA Act,” police said.

During interrogation, the arrested persons disclosed details of their operation. The mastermind, Sagar Haswani, procured the prohibited cigarettes from Paltan Bazar, Guwahati, at cheap rates. “The syndicate exploited the popularity of international-brand cigarettes among youth and teenagers,” said DCP Sain. “The stock was transported to Delhi, stored in various premises, and distributed to smaller vendors for significant profits.”

Sagar, who was arrested on December 13, admitted to orchestrating the supply chain. The syndicate was well organised, with Saqib and Anas overseeing storage and distribution, while Sameer managed supply chains in Delhi. The total recovery included 4.7 lakh Esse Lights, 80,000 DJARUM Black, and 1,00,800 Gudang Garam cigarettes, with a market value of Rs 66 lakh.