Customs clearing agent held for trying to import 7.85kg of ganja through air cargo

A 61-year-old man in Mumbai has been arrested for attempting to import 7.85kg of ganja from abroad. He allegedly submitted wrong documents and failed to verify the importer's information.

Mumbai: A 61-year-old partner of a customs clearing company was arrested by the Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch of the Customs department for his alleged role in trying to import 7.85kg ganja from abroad via air cargo.

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The officials said a consignment was caught during a regular examination following which the senior citizen’s role was identified and he was arrested on Saturday.

The arrested accused, Narayan Singh Kharayat, is a resident of Borivali West. According to the Customs department, during the seizure of the drugs, Kharayat’s role was found to be allegedly suspicious. After verifying all documents and invoices, it was revealed that Khjarayat was allegedly involved in the import of the contraband. The facts found during the investigation also suggested that the accused had deliberately submitted the wrong documents to the customs department on multiple occasions.

After recording the statements of the clearing firm’s partners and employees, the Customs department learnt that Kharayat who is a partner in the firm, had allegedly filed the bill of the consignment on November 16 on behalf of the importer, Ajay Malik, without any authority letter from the latter. Kharayat therefore allegedly failed to do the KYC (Know Your Customer) verification of the documents of the importer.

The accused had even allegedly paid the customs duty and other charges for the bill of the consignment from the bank account of his own firm. Kharayat also allegedly told his staff to upload the wrong textile committee report for the bill of the consignment on behalf of Malik and the latter’s firm. During the investigation, the accused had allegedly failed to prove his genuineness as the address mentioned in the invoice and the Import-Export Code. He had also allegedly instructed his staff to deliver the goods to an address other than that mentioned in the invoice.