DRI seizes prohibited walkie-talkies, e-waste hard disks worth Rs 9 crore at Navi Mumbai port; father-son duo arrested

NAVI MUMBAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 11,060 prohibited walkie-talkie sets and second-hand hard disk drives (HDDs) worth Rs 9.25 crore at Nhava Sheva Port, officials said. A father-son duo, who own two Mumbai-based firms that imported the goods without the required permissions, have been arrested under the Customs Act, according to an official release issued on Saturday. Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officials recovered Baofeng BF-888S walkie-talkies valued at Rs 2.5 crore and second-hand HDDs, classified as e-waste, worth Rs 6.75 crore, according to news agency PTI. Officials said the prohibited items were concealed among miscellaneous electronic goods valued at Rs 21 crore. The entire consignment, estimated at Rs 30.25 crore and shipped from China in eight containers, was seized for misdeclaration. The Baofeng BF-888S walkie-talkies have been blacklisted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) as they operate beyond permissible frequencies and can be used for unauthorised communication, posing a threat to national security. These devices require specific licences. Second-hand HDDs also cannot be imported without authorisation from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).