Paradip: The Marine police in Odisha’s Paradip busted an illegal operation of supplying goods to foreign ships anchored in deep sea without Customs clearance.
Police sources said three persons have so far been detained in connection with the racket in which smugglers were illegally transporting various materials to foreign ships and earning in huge amount of money
The goods are generally supplied to foreign ships after getting clearance from the Customs department officials posted at Paradip Port.
However, some unscrupulous people using small boats were taking these materials to foreign ships anchored in the deep sea without getting customs clearance, thus incurring revenue loss for the country, according to Paradip Marine police station in-charge officer Babita Dehuri.
The personnel of the Marine police station conducted a raid on Sunday night and nabbed some of the accused persons and seized some materials which were being transported to mid-sea through a small jetty. Goods, including large quantities of industrial pipes and motors, were being secretly loaded onto fishing boats and delivered mid-sea to the ships, police said.
During the operation, police seized industrial equipment valued at around Rs 10 lakh, including pipes, motors, and a pick-up van used for transporting the items to the harbour.
The three persons detained by the police are the driver and owner of a pick-up van and also the owner of the boat used in the supply chain.