Chennai, Mar 14 (UNI) The Customs officials have seized tobacco products, meant to be smuggled to Sri Lanka, from an export consignment at the export sheds of the Air Cargo complex here.

C Rajan, Commissioner of Customs Airport and Air cargo Complex said in a press release here today that acting on a specific intelligence, they effected the seizure yesterday. The exporters declared that the cargo had sarees, frocks, skirts, banians, kurta sets, among others, he added.

Mr Rajan said, examination of the consignments revealed that out of the 23 carton boxes brought for export, 11 carton boxes contained 1,80,400 sachets of pan parag sachets and 38,400 sachets of other tobacco products were concealed in the textile materials, valued Rs four lakh.

He said the tobacco products were sold at premium in the markets like Colombo, Singapore and Malaysia. But in case of failure in timely detecting the fraud, the exporter would have succeeded in smuggling out those goods, thereby depriving the Government from earning the appropriate foreign inward remmittance on the face value of the actual export goods, he added.

Enquiries revealed that the owner of the export firm told that he has merely lent his name for a commission and real owner is one Pandurangan of Chennai.

Further investigation was underway, he added.

UNI