Indian Customs officials detain ship laden with 309 dry fruit containers for faking walnuts origin

One person has been arrested in connection with the case, and till now, “the probe has revealed the duty evasion to the tune of ₹50 crore | Photo Credit: NISSAR AHMAD

Indian customs officials have detained a Comoros-flagged vessel, WIV Reyfa, with nearly 310 containers of dry fruit consignments originating from Bandar Abbas port in Iran at Mumbai’s Nhava Sheva port on the suspicion of the origin of consignments being “misdeclared”.

The detention, for nearly a fortnight, follows “specific information” of misdeclaration of origin of the produce received by the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). Though the port of loading for all containers has been given as Bandar Abbas, Indian officials are questioning the crew for more details.

 A circular issued by the Central Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Customs Department on Monday said one person has been arrested in this connection, and till now, “the investigation has revealed the duty evasion to the tune of “₹50 crore.

DRI letter to Customs

The investigation followed a letter from DRI to the  Mumbai Commissioner of Customs. The dry fruit consignments, particularly those of walnuts, are claimed to be of Afghan origin to make use of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) zero import duty benefits. However, they are not of Afghan origin. 

The CIU circular said utilising the fact that Afghanistan is landlocked, “certain unscrupulous importers have engineered a modus operandi” to show that the goods are of Afghan origin. 

“Under this modus operandi, forged transit documents, including fake Bills of Lading showing movement of goods/containers from Bandar Abbas to Jebel Ali, are allegedly being prepared in collusion with shippers and certain elements within shipping lines to create a deceptive chain of transit documentation,” it said. 

Claiming zero duty benefits

As a result, goods which are not of Afghan originare loaded on to the ship. Thereafter, they are sent directly to Jawaharlal Nehru Port. 

Upon arrival at Nhava Sheva port, Bills of Entry are filed at the port’s customs house, claiming preferential benefits of zero duty under the SAFTA. This is done with the help of a country of origin (COO) certificate and forged transit documents for the movement of goods from Bandar Abbas to Jebel Ali Port, UAE, it said. 

The DRI, in its letter to the Customs commissioner, said that though the containers had been loaded at Bandar Abbas, claiming to be of Afghan origin, they were produced elsewhere. 

DRI officials boarded the vessel on February 1 and recorded the statement of the master of the vessel, who said all the containers had been loaded at Bandar Abbas Port and submitted a sea cargo copy.  

3 categories

The DRI said after analysing data, it made three lists of the consignments. One was where 141 containers were loaded at Bandar Abbas, but the port of loading was shown as Jebel Ali. The second was 66 containers loaded at Bandar Abbas, and the port of loading was also Bandar Abbas. The third was 106 containers loaded at Bandar Abbas, but without any bill of entry. 

The DIU circular said to substantiate their “false claim of country of origin”, shippers forged transit documents and upload it in E-sanchit (a computerised format to handle indirect tax documents) to create an artificial trail of goods movement from Bandar Abbas to Jebel Ali Port, thereby the goods had originated from Afghanistan through Iran before reaching Jebel Ali or Khor Fakkan Port, UAE.

The circular said the fabricated transit documentation typically consisted of materially defective and suspicious Bills of Lading, including House bills of lading lacking essential particulars such as vessel name and voyage number, draft Bills of Lading presented as final instruments, unsigned Bills of Lading, and Bills of Lading not bearing the mandatory “Shipped on Board” date.

No valid documents

“These deficiencies collectively indicate deliberate falsification and manipulation of shipping records to fraudulently avail inadmissible SAFTA benefits,” it said. 

Also, in many instances, no valid transit documents, such as Bills of Lading for Bandar Abbas to Jebel Ali Port is uploaded in E-sanchit of ICES, it said.

The circular said details of the first leg of transit of the consignments from Bandar Abbas to Jebel Ali were missing. It asked all officials to exercise “heightened due diligence” and ensure “meticulous examination of transit documentation in cases where SAFTA benefits are claimed on goods declared as of Afghanistan origin”.

Meanwhile, one of the importers has approached the Mumbai High Court. On the other hand, Customs officials are asking for bank guarantee matching the value of imports. 

Published on February 16, 2026