A ship carrying 309 containers of dried fruits has been detained at the port

17-Feb-2026 04:25 PM

Mumbai. Indian customs officials have detained a consignment of dried fruits imported from abroad at Mumbai's Nhava Sheva port. The Comoros-flagged ship, WIB Repka, is carrying approximately 310 containers of dried fruits. It is reportedly Afghanistan-bound, but officials are skeptical. They believe the consignment was shipped to India from Iran's Bandar Abbas port.

Under the SAFTA agreement, goods imported from Afghanistan are subject to no or negligible customs duty, while imports from Iran are subject to full duty. The Revenue Vigilance Department received information that certain information provided about the cargo (dried fruits) on this ship was misleading and inaccurate.

The information regarding the country of origin of the dried fruits was incorrect. In light of this, officials detained the ship at the port approximately 15 days ago and initiated an investigation.

Although the import documents clearly state that all the containers of dried fruits were loaded onto the ships at Bandar Abbas Port (since Afghanistan does not have its own port), Indian officials are questioning the ship's crew to obtain more details.

A circular issued by the Central Vigilance Unit of the Customs Department on February 16 stated that one person has been arrested in this case and investigations so far have revealed that an attempt to evade duty of approximately Rs 50 crore has been made in this import. The dried fruits, especially walnuts, loaded on this ship are said to be of Afghan origin, but officials say that the walnuts are not from Afghanistan.