The Customs Department in Kochi, Kerala, exposed an illegal luxury car smuggling racket. Called Operation Numkhor, this crackdown revealed how luxury cars and SUVs were smuggled into the South Indian state through Bhutan. Officials seized 36 vehicles from affluent owners, including famous Malayalam actors and wealthy businessmen for alleged connections with the illicit trade. A complex web of illegal imports, forged papers, and tax evasion has now been uncovered. None of this, however, means that the actors or owners of these vehicles knew their vehicles were imported illegally!
Quick Explanation: The vehicles' data was added or updated in the Parivahan website. This meant that even when the buyers checked details, everything looked correct. On top of that, the vehicles changed hands several times and buyers were not likely to check all past owners' details.
Operation Numkhor began after earlier reports revealed hundreds of luxury cars being brought into Kerala illegally. Indian law requires paying customs duties on imported vehicles. However, investigators learned that about 200 such vehicles had entered the state through Bhutan by tricking the system.
To pick out and penalize violators and trace the imports, customs officials teamed up with the Kerala Motor Vehicles Department, police, and anti-terrorism squads and conducted raids at 30 locations in Kerala, at the same time. The timing was set to avoid escape windows.
Raids were conducted at some of the most famous garages of Mollywood. Veteran actor Mammootty is as famous for his car collection as he is for his stellar acting career. He keeps these in the ‘369 garage’, near his old home in Kochi’s Panampilly Nagar. Officials conducted raids here, but did not find anything suspicious. No vehicle was thus seized.
Mammootty’s son Dulquer Salmaan, an actor-producer himself, however, had two of his vehicles confiscated. One was a Land Rover Defender 110 Classic with the number plate ‘TN 01 AS 0155’. Details of the other vehicle are sparse. It is said to be an older-generation Nissan Patrol. Reports also mention that the actor would be asked to appear in person, to clarify ownership details.
If you have been following the car collections of Malayalam actors, you would already know that Prithviraj Sukumaran, an avid car enthusiast himself, also owns a Defender Classic. This vehicle is now allegedly being probed. Officials conducted raids at the actor’s residences in Kochi and Trivandrum to inspect the SUV. At the time of writing this article, they haven’t been able to locate or seize it.
Latest reports say that eight vehicles were seized from the actor Amith Chakalakkal. These include the 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser 105 that he has been driving for the last five years. Amith also runs a garage. The rest of the seized vehicles came to him for repairs and are owned by other people.
Amith has already submitted the documents of his Land Cruiser, and the same is now being scrutinised. He said that the owners of the other vehicles have been informed about the development and added that they will soon provide all necessary documents.
Investigations are ongoing to determine if these celebrities knowingly purchased illegally imported vehicles or were unaware of the wrongdoing. All are reportedly cooperating with the probe. Apart from actors, many prominent businessmen were also found to be connected to the issue.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) began probing the racket after receiving the intelligence report. A carefully planned chain involving auction agents, middlemen, and even complicit officials was soon uncovered.
The process usually began in Bhutan, where classic Land Rovers, Land Cruisers, and other butch SUVs discarded by the Bhutanese armed forces were auctioned off cheaply. Middlemen and dealers would procure these for petty sums. In some cases, these vehicles were auctioned off for as little as Rs 1 lakh.
These would then be smuggled to India. Here, these would be registered under ‘lenient’ RTOs in states like Himachal Pradesh (Shimla rural HP52) or Sikkim, where the registration process is quite ‘flexible’.
The vehicles' data was added or updated in the Parivahan website. This meant that even when the buyers checked details, everything looked correct. On top of that, the vehicles changed hands several times and buyers were not likely to check all past owners' details.
Reports also claim that arrangements were made at the RTO level to ensure the process remained smooth. These vehicles were later sold to prospective buyers with fake No Objection Certificates (NOCs). These vehicles would then appear legal. The new owners may then re-register them under their respective RTOs.
The margins in this trade were staggering. In one case, a car bought for Rs 1 lakh was flipped for Rs 10 lakh. In another, a vehicle purchased for Rs 3 lakh was resold at Rs 30 lakh.
According to a report by News18, brand-new luxury cars were also smuggled using trade treaty benefits that allowed Bhutan to import vehicles at concessional duties for local use. These cars, which were supposed to remain within Bhutan’s borders, were instead slipped into India.
Some cars came in containers. Some were dismantled in Bhutan and shipped in as spare parts before being reassembled here. A third method was to bring them in as vehicles driven by Bhutanese tourists.
Once inside, these secured local registration as mentioned above, and quietly entered the used car market. These would then be sold to unsuspecting buyers at inflated prices, with dealers pocketing massive profits. Some of these vehicles have had their chassis or engine numbers changed to hide their actual origin.
This route was lucrative for buyers as they paid much less for these vehicles compared to what they would have for an official import. And for the sellers, these deals meant serious money! The customs department and government suffered huge duty losses though.
The crimes committed as part of the Bhutan-Kerala trade violate several laws. First, the Customs Act requires full payment of import duties. Bringing vehicles into India without paying these duties is illegal. Second, the Motor Vehicles Act bans tampering with vehicle identification numbers or submitting false documents during registration. Third, the Income Tax and Goods and Services Tax (GST) laws are broken if income from these sales is hidden from the authorities.
Such violations cause huge revenue loss to the government. Customs officials estimate the revenue lost here runs into crores of rupees. The fake documents and altered vehicle numbers also risk public safety because untested cars may not meet road fitness and insurance requirements.
The investigation also points to risks beyond just taxes and money. Authorities worry that illegally imported cars might be used for smuggling items like gold or drugs. Forged papers and fake registrations pose larger security threats. Officials are working with police and anti-terrorism units to understand if the smuggling network has deeper criminal connections. A wider investigation will soon be initiated on the Bhutan car trade.