The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday conducted searches at 19 premises in Mumbai, Nagpur and Ahmedabad in connection with a case of alleged illegal import of hazardous betel nuts, areca nuts and rotten nuts by evading customs duty.

The CBI has alleged this has caused a "huge loss" to the government, amounting to around Rs 15,000 crore annually.

The investigating agency said that on March 5, it registered a case against unknown customs officials and private persons following an order issued by the Bombay High Court in February directing a CBI investigation into the matter.

The CBI has further alleged that traders in connivance with the public servants have "indulged in smuggling of substandard Betel Nuts/Areca Nuts of Indonesian origin and falsely claimed the same to be originating from the SAARC members countries, on the basis of fake certificates of origin, bogus & undervalued bills/invoices and forged clearance certificates and thus causing evasion of customs duty".

The FIR lodged by CBI stated these nuts are being imported and declared as cashew peels to avoid lab test and detection.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has since 2017 lodged four cases in connection with smuggling of betel nuts and duty evasion, stated the FIR.

(With inputs from agencies)