Mangaluru, Aug 10 (PTI) The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Limited or CAMPCO has welcomed the measures taken by the Union government to check the smuggling of arecanut into the country in the guise of other products.

In the wake of the Centre's directive, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has intensified its scrutiny to prevent smuggling, a release from CAMPCO said here on Thursday.

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The Dakshina Kannada-based cooperative agency welcomed the recent seizure of 25.9 metric tonnes of arecanuts in split form which was shipped from Dubai in the guise of quick lime lumps in containers at the JNPT Port in Mumbai and another consignment of arecanuts from a shipment from Dubai in the name of gypsum powder.

CAMPCO has been putting pressure on the government and the authorities concerned regarding the smuggling of arecanut that was affecting the prices of domestically-grown arecanut.

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Kishore Kumar Kodgi, CAMPCO president, had written to the government in this regard and had also met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to express his concern over the smuggling and had urged for suitable legal action.

In a statement, Kodgi expressed his gratitude to the Union government and the DRI for safeguarding the interests of the domestic market, especially the farmers and lakhs of families whose livelihoods are entirely dependent on arecanut.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)