E-cigarettes worth Rs 6.44 lakh seized in Navi Mumbai, say police

Banned e-cigarettes worth Rs 6.44 lakh were seized from a shop in Kharghar in Navi Mumbai, a police official said on Thursday.

The raid was carried out by the police's Anti Narcotics Cell on May 3 and an offence has been registered under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act, 2019, the Kharghar police station official said.

No arrest has been made so far and a probe into the e-cigarette sourcing and supply network was underway, he added.

Electronic-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that produce aerosol by heating a solution containing nicotine, which incidentally is the addictive substance in combustible cigarettes.

As per the law, the production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale of e-cigarettes is a cognisable offence punishable with imprisonment of up to one year and/or fine of Rs 1 lakh for first offence.

Storage of e-cigarettes is punishable with a jail term of six months and/or fine of Rs 50,000.