NEW DELHI: Smugglers are continuing to find ways to bring banned e-cigarettes into India, concealing them in containers declared as ordinary household goods. In the latest case, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized around 55,000 e-cigarettes worth more than Rs 13.5 crore at Kolkata port, with the consignments falsely declared as water glass and ceramic mugs.
The seizure, made on October 24 at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, involved two containers bound for Nepal through India. The e-cigarettes were hidden among the declared cargo and were detected after officers acted on specific intelligence and examined the shipments.
One container held around 40,000 e-cigarettes of the IGET brand in different flavours. The second contained about 15,000 devices of brands including VTV, VOKO, Bang and Ejoy. DRI seized the devices along with the cover cargo under the Customs Act.
The latest operation adds to a growing list of seizures that show how prohibited vaping products continue to enter the country despite a nationwide ban introduced in 2019.
In May 2026, DRI seized nearly 3 lakh e-cigarettes and vapes worth more than Rs 120 crore in operations across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and West Bengal. The consignments were found at ports, airports and inland container depots. In those cases, the devices were concealed in goods declared as furniture and metal chair parts. The agency said the seized products were sourced from China.
The scale of the seizures is also evident in DRI’s Smuggling in India Report 2024-25. The report recorded the seizure of approximately eight lakh e-cigarettes and vape-liquid units during the 2024-25 financial year, in operations across Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. Delhi-NCR accounted for the largest share, according to the report.
Kolkata port has repeatedly figured in such cases. In September 2024, DRI intercepted four containers carrying miscellaneous plastic goods and recovered 82,010 e-cigarettes originating from China.
In November 2025, officers seized 74,000 e-cigarettes at Kolkata port from a consignment declared as slippers. The shipment was being moved for transshipment to Nepal, according to DRI’s enforcement records.
At Tuticorin port in November 2025, officers seized 45,984 e-cigarettes worth around Rs 10.41 crore from a container in which the devices had been concealed behind cartons of umbrellas. Three people were arrested in that case, the agency said.
These cases point to a recurring method: prohibited devices are hidden among legitimate goods or described inaccurately in shipping documents to avoid detection. However, the seizures alone do not establish how much of the illegal market is being intercepted or how much reaches consumers.
India prohibited the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement of electronic cigarettes under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act, 2019. The law covers electronic nicotine delivery systems, including devices commonly known as vapes.
The ban was introduced on public-health grounds. E-cigarettes heat a liquid to create an aerosol that users inhale. The liquid may contain nicotine, flavouring agents and other chemicals. Nicotine is addictive, and the health effects of inhaling aerosols can vary with the device and the substances used.
Repeated seizures show that enforcement agencies are intercepting sizeable consignments, but also that smugglers continue to exploit international shipping routes and mis-declaration of cargo.
