Customs Raids Malayali Stars: How Luxury Cars Were Smuggled Via Bhutan To Evade Crores In Taxes

Last Updated:September 23, 2025, 19:20 IST

Officials said that the luxury vehicles, meant strictly for Bhutanese use, were smuggled into India across the porous border without paying import duty or GST

Malayalam Stars Prithviraj Sukumaran And Dulquer Salmaan | File Image

A massive luxury car smuggling racket has been uncovered in Kerala, with Customs and the Motor Vehicles Department revealing how high-end vehicles were being routed through Bhutan and re-registered across Indian states using forged documents to evade crores in taxes.

Officials said the modus operandi involved importing premium cars, including BMWs, Audis, Mercedes, and Range Rovers, into Bhutan at concessional duties under special trade treaties.

These vehicles, meant strictly for Bhutanese use, were then smuggled into India across the porous border without paying import duty or GST.

Once inside, the cars were initially registered in “lenient” states such as Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, or Arunachal Pradesh, where road tax is low and regulatory checks are weaker.

They were later re-registered in Kerala and other states using forged or altered papers, sometimes with cloned registration numbers from legitimate cars to cover their trail.

Operation Numkhor

Under Operation Numkhor, raids were carried out on Tuesday at the homes of Malayalam actors Dulquer Salmaan and Prithviraj Sukumaran, along with several luxury showrooms across Kerala.

So far, 36 vehicles have been seized, including two belonging to Dulquer, one of them a Land Rover Defender.

Notices are being issued to vehicle owners, including celebrities, requiring them to appear before Customs and produce valid documentation.

Officials confirmed that any vehicle found with forged papers will be taken into custody.

Behind The Scenes

Sources said the racket operated through three primary channels: luxury cars brought in containers, vehicles dismantled and smuggled in parts before being reassembled, and cars driven in under the pretext of tourism and then left behind.

Forged seals of Indian Army, Indian embassies and even the US embassy were allegedly used in some cases to mask the imports.

Investigators estimate that in Kerala alone there are about 150–200 such vehicles, with nearly 15 flagged cases under probe so far.

Each car is believed to have evaded tens of lakhs in import duty and GST, pushing total losses to the exchequer into hundreds of crores.

Customs officials said the buyers, including high-profile clients like actors, businessmen, and politicians, often purchased the vehicles at prices 30-40 per cent below showroom rates, many claiming ignorance and insisting they assumed the documents were genuine.

The group behind the racket has reportedly been traced to Coimbatore in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

“This is a highly sophisticated operation. The vehicles enter India not as official imports but under the guise of already being registered domestically, making the trail of tax evasion harder to track,” an official said.

Raids are still ongoing, with the investigation expected to widen in the coming days.

About the Author

Ronit Singh

Ronit Singh, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking News team. He has a keen focus on Indian politics and aims to cover unexplored angles. Ronit is an alumnus of Christ (Deemed to be…Read More

Ronit Singh, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking News team. He has a keen focus on Indian politics and aims to cover unexplored angles. Ronit is an alumnus of Christ (Deemed to be… Read More

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