Imported Lexus, BMW, Honda cars worth 12 crore taka seized, brought in as cut pieces
Luxury cars being imported by evading necessary duties. Agamir Somoy.
Once again, importer Crown Automobiles has brought in four brand-new luxury cars by cutting them into four pieces each. These cars were placed at the back of a 40-foot container. To evade scrutiny, the vehicle parts were strategically placed at the front. The importer had declared the shipment as used car parts.
After being unloaded from the ship, the container was placed at the Patenga Container Terminal (PCT) in Chattogram, operated by the foreign operator Red Sea Gateway. The customs intelligence became suspicious because the importer did not initiate the process to clear the shipment for a month.
On Tuesday (September 1), upon opening the container and conducting a physical inspection, a major irregularity involving duty evasion was uncovered. The importer had attempted to evade approximately 12 crore taka in customs duties.
The seized cars include two Lexus brand models, the 'LX 600' and 'SC 430'. Also seized was a BMW of the 'M5' model, a Honda of the 'B18C' model, along with various important vehicle components.
The container was opened at PCT in the afternoon to display the cars. Sagar Sen, Joint Director of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate, provided details of the seizure. He stated that the shipment had arrived at PCT on July 10, but the importer had not filed a Bill of Entry even after a month. He mentioned that after the storage time expired, the company had planned to buy the goods through auction as a new tactic, but they were caught beforehand.
He informed that the exact amount of duty the importer attempted to evade is being calculated. Simultaneously, the financial transactions related to the shipment and potential money laundering are also being investigated.
Crown Automobile Services in Dhaka declared the import of 8,018 kg of goods in 167 packages via container from Japan. In the declaration, they were described as used motor vehicle spare parts and used petrol engines, including gearboxes. By declaring these as car parts, they attempted to clear them at a nominal duty rate. If these had been imported as complete cars, the government would have received revenue ranging from 103% to 621% of the taxable value.
