Smuggler held under COFEPOSA Act

CHENNAI:The central crime branch of the city police on Thursday arrested a 27-year-oldsmuggler under the COFEPOSA (conservation of foreign exchange and prevention ofsmuggling activities) Act and remanded him in prison.According tothe police, J Shamiyullah (27) of Royapuram had been caught by airport customsofficials a few months ago when he returned from Hong Kong with smuggled goods.A request made by customs officials to the state home department was forwardedto the city police commissioner and on the latter's instructions, the CCBregistered a case and arrested Shamiyullah."It is a painstakingprocess since the incident happened a couple of months ago. The customsofficials let off the accused even though the case involved smuggling valuablesfrom foreign countries. Later, they leisurely sent a report to the homedepartment seeking his detention under the COFEPOSA Act," a police officersaid."Neither the customs officials nor the Directorate of RevenueIntelligence officials cooperated with us. We didn'r know his identity and hadto inquire with neighbours," said a police officer.Customs and DRIofficials seek detention of smugglers under the COFEPOSA Act when it involvessmuggling of goods worth over Rs 10 lakh or in case of repeated offenders.