Operation Numkhor: Customs seize two more vintage SUVs smuggled from Bhutan; total seizures hit 60

Kochi: The Cochin Customs Commissionerate (Preventive) has seized two more luxury Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs from Karnataka as part of its ongoing anti-smuggling drive under Operation Numkhor, taking the total number of premium vehicles seized in the Bhutan luxury car smuggling case to 60.

According to the Customs, the two SUVs were traced to different locations in Karnataka based on specific intelligence inputs. Investigators found that both vehicles had been fitted with counterfeit registration-related parameters in an apparent attempt to disguise their smuggled origin, legitimise their ownership and evade law enforcement scrutiny.

A senior Customs official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the investigation has revealed a consistent pattern in the way the smuggling syndicate managed to put the illegally imported vehicles on Indian roads.

“It is the same pattern across the board. For almost all these seized vehicles, the syndicate has registered or re-registered them using systematically fabricated and forged documents,” the official told Onmanorama. “When these ultra-luxury cars are brought into the country from outside, they cannot obtain a legal registration through standard means. To bypass this, the operators approach the Motor Vehicle Department with counterfeit paperwork.”

The official clarified that while the registration numbers assigned to the vehicles are genuine entries in the government database, they were obtained using forged documents.

“The number plates are technically original, but the method through which they were obtained is entirely fake. They presented forged baseline documents to the Karnataka Motor Vehicle Department to successfully generate these registrations,” the official said.

Customs officials declined to reveal the identities of the current possessors of the two newly seized Land Cruisers or from where exactly in Karnataka they were seized, saying the investigation is at a crucial stage.

“They have been identified, but we are withholding the names as the investigation is actively moving forward,” an officer said.

Officials said further legal proceedings, including verification of ownership links and confiscation proceedings under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, are underway.

Operation Numkhor was launched by the Cochin Customs Preventive Commissionerate to dismantle a multi-state syndicate involved in smuggling high-end luxury vehicles into India from Bhutan and getting them re-registered in several northern states using forged documents before selling them to affluent buyers across different states. The investigation had earlier led to the arrest of the alleged kingpin, Biswadip Das, and his associate, Zain Marva, from the Northeast. 

With the latest seizures taking the total to 60 vehicles, investigators are now focusing on inter-state RTO linkages, particularly in Karnataka and Assam, to identify more smuggled luxury vehicles that may have been registered using forged documents and are still being used on Indian roads.