₹3.5 cr worth 60,000 liquor bottles seized in Surendranagar and Kutch

The crackdown on large-scale liquor smuggling in Gujarat continued on Wednesday, with authorities seizing more than 60,000 bottles of illegal foreign liquor worth ₹3.50 crore from Surendranagar and Kutch districts. Despite prohibition, bootleggers have been adopting new methods this time using cotton and rice consignments as cover to transport liquor across the state.

In Surendranagar, acting on specific intelligence, the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) raided the compound of the ‘Vadwala Darshan’ hotel near Nani Moldi village on the Chotila highway. Officials discovered liquor hidden under stacks of cotton waste bundles.

The operation led to the seizure of ₹2.13 crore worth of goods, including 28,404 liquor bottles valued at ₹1.77 crore, trucks and a pickup vehicle. Seven accused were arrested, while five others, including the key supplier and transport operators, remain absconding.

Meanwhile in Kutch, Mundra Police and the Border Range Cyber Cell raided a godown in Dhrab GIDC where a major liquor consignment from Punjab and Rajasthan was being unloaded. Officials confiscated ₹1.71 crore worth of liquor and beer, along with trucks, a Bolero pickup vehicle, and mobile phones taking the total seizure to ₹2.11 crore. Two suspects were arrested. The consignment was traced back to a Rajasthan-based supplier, with local operatives coordinating delivery in Kutch.

The seizures once again highlight how bootleggers are exploiting transport networks, disguising liquor shipments within agricultural commodities to evade detection. Enforcement agencies say the operations will continue, but admit that the smuggling networks are becoming increasingly sophisticated.