Cartons of Mond cigarettes seized in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Cartons of foreign brand cigarettes were seized in Hyderabad on Saturday, while smugglers were sneaking in the super slim, Mond brand, through sea route from Dubai.

Smugglers bring the immensely popular United Arab Emirates’s brand, especially for women clientele, and sell it at a cheaper price. The seizure of 176 packets of ‘Mond’ was made by city zonal unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), reports Telangana Today.

The actual price of one cigarette packet is believed to be around Rs 400, however, the smugglers were planning to sell them at a lesser cost of somewhere between Rs 200- Rs 300. The cigarettes seized include different flavours, such as gum, gum mint, green apple, menthol and paan.

Along with ‘Mond’, Benson & Hedges super filter cigarettes smuggled from London, were also seized. The total value of cigarettes is estimated to be of Rs 6.33 crore.

“As of now, there are no arrests in the case as investigation is still on. Smugglers are bringing these cigarettes to the city purely for selling to customers, especially women,” the official said.

The smuggling of these cigarettes from Dubai to Hyderabad via Mumbai sea route is mainly done to evade taxes.