More central agencies to probe luxury car smuggling case

Kochi, Sep 24 (PTI) Following the recent expose of a sensational luxury car smuggling case by the Customs Preventive Wing here, officials said on Wednesday that more central agencies are expected to join the investigation into other aspects of the case.

The Enforcement Directorate’s joint director and her team met the Customs Commissioner (Preventive Wing) on Wednesday to discuss the matter.

The Customs Commissioner has already stated that there is evidence pointing to clear cases of money laundering.

Agencies such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are also likely to investigate if evidence emerges of possible terror funding links, sources said.

"We have just had preliminary discussions and need to gather more details. The Customs have only just begun their investigations," an ED official told PTI.

The ED team visited the Customs office at Marine Drive around 1 pm, and the discussions lasted for over 30 minutes.

According to Customs officials, the smuggling racket appears to be widely networked and could have been involved in the smuggling of gold, drugs, and even arms across the country’s border with Bhutan, as well as illegal funding that could support terror activities.

"We need to investigate all these angles, and the respective agencies should take up each of them," Dr T Tiju, Customs Preventive Commissioner, said during his press conference.

Customs had discovered that there was no documentation or digital trail for the money transactions used to purchase these smuggled luxury vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Customs team has seized another vehicle from a woman social media influencer, from a garage in Adimali in Idukki district.

However, Customs is not bringing many of the seized vehicles to its headquarters in Kochi due to a lack of parking space.

The vehicles seized in Kochi are currently parked inside a church compound near the Customs office, and the church has raised objections to their being kept there without informing the parish authorities. The church has also banned Customs from parking any more vehicles on its premises.

Customs officials said they will issue summons to the custodians of the seized vehicles, including film star Dulquer Salmaan, asking them to produce the relevant documents and to appear in person for further interrogation.

Customs sleuths carried out raids at around 30 locations across Kerala on Tuesday, including the homes of actors Prithviraj Sukumaran, Dulquer Salmaan and Amit Chakkalackal, seizing 36 high-end luxury cars illegally brought from Bhutan with forged documents.

The raids, part of "Operation Numkhor", revealed that some of these vehicles were also used to smuggle gold and drugs, and the initial probe uncovered tax evasion, money laundering, and possible links to terrorist funding.

Customs Commissioner Tiju had said the case posed a serious threat to the country's national and economic security, as such networks could be used to bring in anything illegally. PTI KPK TGB ROH