In a major crackdown, a large stockpile of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) worth approximately ₹30 lakh has been seized, which was being operated under the cover of a jewellery business. The Crime Branch has registered a case against Faizal Motiwala at Lokmanya Tilak Marg Police Station and arrested him.
According to the Crime Branch, Unit 2 of the branch received a tip-off that Faizal had brought in a significant quantity of unauthorized e-cigarettes for distribution and sale in the Mangaldas Market. Acting on this information, a team led by Police Inspector Dilip Tejankar, Police Inspector Vaishali Pawar, and Police Sub-Inspector Sanjay Bhave raided the store selling these products.
During the raid, the police found a box containing 200 e-cigarettes at the store. Further investigation revealed that Faizal had stocked the remaining e-cigarettes in his flat located in Agripada and was selling them as per customer demand. The Crime Branch team confiscated a total of 800 e-cigarettes from four boxes at Motiwala’s flat. In total, e-cigarettes worth ₹30 lakh were seized in this operation.
The police have launched further investigations into the case to uncover more details about the illegal e-cigarette business.