Excise officials start checks to curb liquor smuggling in Maharashtra

As the party season is coming closer, operations of people involved in smuggling India-made foreign liquor to the city and other part of states are suspected to have intensified.

The state excise department has launched a massive operation across the state and in the city to keep a check on such activities.

A senior officer from department said, “Teams from our flying squads and special units have been sent across the state where it is suspected that liquor will be smuggled from or could have been stocked after being brought from union territories. Sale of liquor made in the union territories is banned in Maharashtra as it leads to heavy revenue losses for the state in this season which generates the highest revenue as compared to other parts of the year.”

Maharashtra has the highest percentage of taxes levied on liquor. The consumption of India-made foreign liquor, as compared to any other state, is high. People involved in liquor smuggling from union territories to the state make huge profits, which could be around 300-500%.

Recently, the state excise department busted a major racket where leading brands of foreign scotch like Red Label, Black Label, Blue Label, Chivas Regal, Jack Daniels, Whitey & Mackay and others were seized. The accused involved were running an inter-state racket where they targeted elite clients who would buy this scotch from them for a discounted price without the knowledge that the liquor filled in those bottles was India-made foreign liquor and not the real scotch as mentioned on the bottle.

Officials learnt that the accused had procured large amount of empty bottles of leading brands of scotch and procured the liquor from Daman and Diu which they filled and then re-sealed the bottles using sealing machines. The seals looked real, it was difficult to tell they were fake.