India’s DRI seizes 13,000 Yuoto vapes at JNPT worth over Rs 4 crore

India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence found 13,000 branded e-cigarettes hidden behind a declared cargo of “Mop Rods” at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Maharashtra, valuing the vapes and cover load at more than Rs 4 crore.

The shipment held 6,000 units of Yuoto Thanos and 7,000 units of Yuoto Lens, according to the DRI account of the operation. Officers seized the goods under the Customs Act.

DRI puts this year’s national vape seizures at over 3,55,000 units

The JNPT container is one case inside a larger enforcement total. DRI officers have seized more than 3,55,000 e-cigarettes worth upwards of Rs 135 crore in the 2026–27 fiscal year, the agency says, with recoveries across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and West Bengal.

The figure is an average of mixed brands, shipment types and valuation bases, not a price for any single product.

ENDS imports and sales have been banned in India since the 2019 Act

The 2019 Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act bans the sale and import of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems in India, and DRI classifies the seized stock as prohibited goods. The operation adds no new rule; it enforces an existing prohibition at the container level.

The concealment method matters for how the container was flagged. The declared cargo was a low-value household item, and the e-cigarettes sat behind it rather than in the visible load, so the shipment would have passed a document-only check.

Two brands, one consignment: what it suggests about channel demand

Both product lines in the container carried the same Yuoto brand, split across two model names. The mix indicates a single order assembled for one importer rather than a miscellany of returned or diverted stock, though the DRI account does not name the importer, consignor or port of origin.

For manufacturers, exporters and distributors in the Shenzhen supply chain, the case is a reminder that India-bound ENDS shipments remain prohibited at import regardless of declared cargo description. Companies handling India orders face compliance exposure at the filing stage, and misdeclared container manifests carry seizure and Customs Act consequences rather than a tariff bill. Order timing for the Indian market depends on channels that the 2019 Act does not authorise.

Who is affected and what changes for them

Importers and freight forwarders moving containers through JNPT face closer scrutiny of cover loads declared as household goods. Retailers and distributors sourcing Yuoto stock in India operate in a segment the DRI is actively targeting, with more than 3,55,000 units pulled from circulation this fiscal year.

The same enforcement release covers unrelated seizures: 3.7 kg of elephant tusks near Guwahati on 5 November 2026, 6.642 kg of amphetamine from a Delhi–Bhopal bus the same day, and Rs 3.5 crore in foreign currency intercepted at Kolkata airport on 6 November 2026.

The DRI has not published a figure for how many India-bound ENDS containers it inspects or intercepts, so the share of smuggled stock reaching the market cannot be estimated from this release. The next markers are the agency’s cumulative seizure totals for the remainder of the 2026–27 fiscal year.

Questions readers ask

How many vapes did DRI seize at JNPT?

DRI officers found 13,000 e-cigarettes at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust: 6,000 Yuoto Thanos and 7,000 Yuoto Lens units, concealed behind cargo declared as "Mop Rods". The vapes and cover cargo were valued at over Rs 4 crore.

Are e-cigarettes legal to import into India?

No. The 2019 Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act bans the sale and import of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems in India, and DRI seized the JNPT shipment under the Customs Act as prohibited goods.