DRI seizes more than 43 lakh foreign-origin smuggled cigarettes worth Rs. 8.64 crore in Mizoram; one arrested

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) intercepted a truck along the Champhai–Aizawl Road at Tuirial village in Mizoram, seizing 43,20,000 sticks of foreign-origin 'Patron' brand cigarettes valued at Rs. 8.64 crore. One person was arrested. Preliminary investigations indicate the cigarettes were smuggled from Myanmar through the Zokhawthar sector of the Mizoram–Myanmar border. The seized cigarette packets lacked the mandatory pictorial and health warnings required under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003. The operation highlights enforcement actions against cross-border smuggling networks in India's North-Eastern region.