Pune: Ganja, Charas worth Rs 1.79 crores seized by Customs department
Sushant Ranjan
Pune, June 25, 2020: The officials from Pune Customs intercepted have nabbed four persons and claimed to have seized 868 Kgs of Ganja valued approximately at Rs. 1.04 Crores and Charas weighing 7.500 Kgs. valued at Rs. 0.75 Crores. The accused were transporting the narcotics drugs in two trucks. The vehicles have been also seized.
Customs Commissionerate, Pune was created in July 1997 consequent to the trifurcation of the Commissionerate of Central Excise and Customs, Pune. The Commissionerate which was under the jurisdiction of Customs Mumbai-III Zone earlier has since come under the jurisdiction of Central Excise & Customs Pune Zone with effect from 26th July 2007. The jurisdiction of the Commissionerate extends to 7 Revenue districts in the State of Maharashtra viz. Pune, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Solapur.
There are four Inland Container Depots in this Commissionerate– three at Pune and one at Miraj (Sangli) which basically cater to the needs of manufacturers located in or around Pune. A few minor ports at Ratnagiri, Dabhol, Jaigad, Vijaydurg also handle imports/exports. The Pune Airport has since been declared as a Customs airport in January 1997 for the export of specified goods. With effect from 12th December 2005, Pune Airport has been notified as an International Airport for the clearance of passengers and baggage.
The important functions carried out in the Commissionerate are (i) Anti Smuggling and Preventive work including of anti-narcotic functions – collection of intelligence, Joint Sea Patrolling, Night Road Patrolling, Patrolling of Coast / Creeks through departmental boats/vessels, Rummaging of cargo vessels. (ii) Assessment of Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills and related work at CFS Pimpri, ICD Dighi, ICD Miraj (Sangli), ICD Pimpri-Chinchwad and coastal customs divisions at Ratnagiri and Dapoli (iii) enforcement of NDPS Act, 1985 (v) Marine wing operations at Ratnagiri and (v) manning of the telecommunications network in the entire Konkan area both in the inland region as also along the coastline starting from Bankot in the north to Kiranpani in the south.
