Kundapura: Smuggling of areca nuts worth Rs 53 lakhs busted

Kundapur: The Assistant Commissioner of Mangaluru West Zone Commercial Tax department on Tuesday busted a truck smuggling areca nuts to Uttar Pradesh.

During a road safety awareness campaign, the police stopped the truck at Vandse on the Amparu-Kollur road and seized 380 bags (24,700 kg) of areca nuts.

It was learnt on interrogation that the cargo carriers had forged documents to show that the areca nut shipment was for a trader in Kerala.

In a statement, the Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes Udayashankar said that the cargo carrier, Union Cargo Mover, Puttur, have been fined a total of Rs 53.10 lakhs including tax and fines under the Goods and Services Tax Act.