Operation Numkhor: Bhutan authorities evince interest in joining probe in crackdown on luxury vehicle smuggling

The investigation into the alleged smuggling of high-value pre-owned cars will be expanded to Bhutan once the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi, consolidates the documents of all 43 vehicles seized under Operation Numkhor.

The vehicles were allegedly smuggled into Kerala from Bhutan by a suspected Coimbatore-based racket through the porous Indo-Bhutan border. Bhutanese authorities have already expressed interest in joining the investigation. The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has already launched a parallel probe, collecting details, including from actor-producer Dulquer Salmaan, whose three cars were seized during the operation.

The Customs has released 37 of the 43 seized vehicles to their registered owners under Section 110 of the Customs Act, against a bond equivalent to the estimated value of the vehicles and a bank guarantee of 20% of the bond amount. Orders have also been issued for the release of two more vehicles, pending submission of the required bond and guarantee. Among the released vehicles was a Land Rover belonging to Mr. Salmaan, while another of his vehicles remains in Customs custody.

The remaining four vehicles will be released if the owners submit a formal request and comply with the stipulated conditions. Released vehicles must not be tampered with, taken out of the State, transferred in ownership, and must be produced upon request for any investigation are the conditions set by the Customs.

The ED’s Kochi Zonal Office has traced the alleged smuggling operation to a Coimbatore-based network. The agency identified Shine Motors and its partners, Sathik Basha and Imran Khan, as key figures. They allegedly procured used vehicles from Bhutan using forged no-objection certificates (NoCs) and routed payments through unauthorised channels. The duo reportedly admitted to sourcing around 16 vehicles via a Bhutanese intermediary, Sha Kinley, a former Army personnel.

According to the ED, the vehicles were driven to the Indo-Bhutan border at Jaigaon, loaded onto car carriers, and transported via Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, and Chennai to Coimbatore without Customs clearance or payment of import duties. The vehicles were then dismantled and sold as spare parts across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and other states, often through platforms like OLX, with payments made in cash or to personal accounts.

Neither Shine Motors nor its partners possessed an import-export code or maintained statutory invoices.