Six people arrested in relation to the sale of banned electronice cigarettes in Noida while over 400 banned e-cigarettes were seized, police said on Thursday.
The entire consignment is estimated worth Rs 15 lakh in the black market, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Vishal Pandey said. The gang was busted by a team of Sector 63 police station officials, he said.
“As you all are aware, an anti-narcotics cell has been created which was inaugurated by Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh on Wednesday only. The focus of the police is to put a check on the supply of narcotics in the district. A lot of youth have become addicted to it.
“In pursuance of the objective, an anti-narcotics campaign is being run in the district and the Sector 63 police station team on Thursday busted a gang and recovered 405 electronic cigarettes (vape) of different flavours and including nicotine in it,” Pandey said. The electronic cigarette (vape) is completely banned in India, he said.
“Six people, who were members of the gang, have been caught. They are being interrogated and details of their source of vape, the supply network etc are being sought,” he said. The additional DCP said the electronic cigarettes seized are sold between Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 a piece and the whole consignment taken in police custody is estimated around Rs 15 lakh.
Another official said the gang procured the electronic cigarettes from Delhi at Rs 300 or Rs 400 per piece and sold it at 10 times profit margin in Noida and Greater Noida. The primary customers of the gang were young college students, including girls, who got addicted to vaping despite knowing about its harmful effects on health, the official added.
Those held have been identified as Praveen Gaur (Ghaziabad), Akash (Ghaziabad), Nitin Gupta (Gautam Buddh Nagar), Aryan Dev (Ghaziabad), Umesh (Noida) and Biru (Noida), police said. An FIR has been lodged in the case under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution and Storage, Advertisement) Act, 2019 and further legal proceedings are underway, they said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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