Ritika
Nagpur. The heat of the action taken by the Enforcement Directorate on the betel nut traders has reached the entire syndicate. The raids have exposed a well-organized syndicate of Indonesian betel nut suppliers, commission agents, receipt providers, transporters, hawala operators and buyers, sources said.
The syndicates were involved in smuggling Indonesian betel nuts into India through the Indo-Myanmar border. The ED has carried out searches at 17 premises in Mumbai and Nagpur under Palm 2002, which include offices and residential premises of various persons involved in smuggling of betel leaves of Indonesian origin.
Arecanut is mostly smuggled through the Indo-Myanmar border. During the ED’s search, a huge consignment of 289.57 metric tonnes of betel nut worth about Rs 11.5 crore has been seized under PMLA. The ED has also seized Rs 16.5 lakh in cash and various incriminating documents and digital devices. The ED probe has revealed that there is a well-organised syndicate of Indonesian betel nut suppliers, commission agents, logistics providers, transporters, hawala operators and buyers, who were working together to defraud the government.
The whole mechanism was prepared to save tax and the government was also being cheated of hundreds of crores per month. The ED is also investigating which departments were getting cooperation in this work because without cooperation, it was not possible to carry forward the work on such a large scale.
