According to sources DRI officials caught the boat near Pipavav port in Jamnagar district based on specific information. The boat had successfully deceived the customs officials in Mumbai before reaching the Gujarat coastline.
A tugboat carrying 1,500 metric tonne smuggled diesel worth Rs60 lakh from Singapore was seized on Tuesday along the coastline in Jamnagar district. The officials of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) apprehended five crew members of the boat who were said to be looking for buyers.
According to sources DRI officials caught the boat near Pipavav port in Jamnagar district based on specific information. The boat had successfully deceived the customs officials in Mumbai before reaching the Gujarat coastline. Sources said that the oil was stored in the vessel in Singapore and was to be sold in Gujarat to earn profit.
“Since smuggled oil is free from customs duty, selling it in India is quite a profitable business. We had seen in several similar cases in which fishermen and other crew members of ships smuggle crude oil and bring it India. Such smuggling is still widespread,” said a DRI source.
The boat belongs to one Cyber Offshore named company involved in oil rig supply. Sources said the owners were reportedly unaware of the fact that the crew members onboard had hidden oil in the vessel. According to sources the crew members had saved oil for quite some time before they arrived in Indian waters.
According to source diesel smuggling is still taking place along the Gujarat coastline. In many instances fishermen and crew members of vessels that go to Middle East for export-import work also were caught while trying to sell of illegally brought diesel and petrol.
In the last couple of years the Jamnagar customs had foiled around five attempts of oil smuggling along the 800 km coastline.
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