Operation Numkhor: Bhutan Customs team to arrive in Kerala to probe vehicle smuggling

Kochi: In a significant step forward in the ongoing Operation Numkhor launched by Customs (Preventive) unit in Kochi, a delegation from Bhutan’s Customs department is set to gather crucial intelligence on the large-scale smuggling of vehicles across the Indo-Bhutan border during a high-level bilateral meeting in Kerala later this month.

The issue is likely to be a key agenda at the upcoming meeting of the Indo-Bhutan Joint Customs Group and Integrated Border Management, scheduled to be held in Munnar from April 20 to 23. While the four-day summit is expected to address a range of bilateral concerns, sources with Customs (Preventive) unit Kochi confirmed that the vehicle smuggling racket uncovered in India as part of Operation Numkhor will be a key focus area.

Customs sources said the Bhutanese delegation will be coming with a clear objective to bridge critical information gaps in the ongoing investigation. The visit, which includes engagements in Kochi and Munnar, is being viewed as a direct follow-up to the findings of Operation Numkhor.

Operation Numkhor was launched by the Customs (Preventive) unit in Kochi in October 2025 to crack down on the vehicles, mostly SUVs, that were smuggled into India from Bhutan. The smugglers used forged documents to get the smuggled vehicles re-registered in various North Indian states in India.

Over 40 such vehicles were seized from Kerala, while the Customs believe that over 200 smuggled vehicles were sold to car enthusiasts in Kerala.

Bhutan launches parallel probe
Customs sources said that Bhutan has already initiated a parallel investigation into how its registered vehicles were smuggled into India using forged documents. Bhutanese intelligence agencies are actively tracking the movement and origin of these vehicles on their side of the border.

“The Bhutan team is seeking detailed inputs about Operation Numkhor. They want to understand the full chain of the smuggling racket, from registration to cross-border movement,” a Customs officer said.

The Munnar meeting is expected to facilitate a formal exchange of evidence between the two sides. Customs (Preventive) officers in Kochi have already compiled substantial documentation on the smuggling network’s operations. Moreover, the issue had reportedly been flagged during Home Secretary-level talks between India and Bhutan held in October last year, where both countries agreed to prioritise coordinated enforcement.

Meanwhile, enforcement actions linked to the case have gathered pace. The Economic Offences Court in Kochi has issued non-bailable warrants against four key suspects based in Assam. The accused had previously secured bail in Assam, after they were arrested by the Customs team from Kochi, but their failure to appear before investigators in Kochi led to the cancellation of bail and issuance of fresh warrants.

In a recent development, Customs officers seized five more Bhutanese-registered vehicles from Kozhikode, pointing to the scale of the racket.

One accused from West Bengal is already in judicial custody, while Customs teams are preparing to move to Bongaigaon, Assam, to execute the pending warrants soon.

The summit in Munnar is being organised by the central government, with key roles played by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.

Though discussions will be conducted at the official level, led by senior board members, the prominence given to Operation Namkoor reflects the growing diplomatic urgency to tackle cross-border economic offences.

Sources added that the plan to host this year’s meeting in Kerala signals a strong commitment from Thimphu to address the legal and enforcement gaps exposed by the investigation.