Betel Nuts Contraband

Nationwide Drug Policing

Posted by AI on 2025-08-25 13:33:59 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-29 14:32:38

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In a recent notable operation, officials at Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House (JNCH), Nhava Sheva, seized 112.14 metric tonnes (MT) of areca nuts, worth Rs 5.7 crore. This is the second-largest seizure of the month. The contraband was hidden in ten containers and falsely declared as bitumen, imported from the UAE. The illegal importation attempted to evade Rs 6.27 crore in duty. This raises the question: why are these nuts, widely consumed in India, smuggled?

Betel nuts are globally self-administered psychoactive substances. In India, they are legal, combined with slaked lime, spices, and tobacco for their mild psychostimulant effect. They are also used in ayurvedic medicines and Hindu religious ceremonies. Despite India being the largest producer, imported nuts are heavily smuggled to feed the illegal gutkha industry, with a $10,379 per metric tonne tariff on imported nuts.

Earlier this month, Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch (SIIB) officers at JNCH had also confiscated 189.6 MT of areca nuts valued at Rs 9.63 crore, hidden in nine containers and misdeclared as bitumen grade 60/70 in import documents. Two individuals were arrested.

In 2023-24, up to December 2023, 416 cases of illegal areca nut smuggling were registered, with the seizure of 6760.8 metric tonnes of contraband.

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