Four of the 12 containers, which were seized from Chittagong port on Sunday had Tk 69 crore worth cigarettes, liquor and television sets – imported from China under false declarations.

They include two crore sticks of cigarettes, 1,089 televisions and 16,117 bottles of liquors, Moinul Khan, directorate general of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate said.

The two consignments were brought by two separate business firms — Henan Anhui Agro Lc at Dumni of Khilkhet in Dhaka and Agro BD & JP of Keraniganj. Both the firms are owned by a person named Khorshed Alam.

The customs officials said that the contraband goods in the dozen containers could amount to over Tk 100 crore – which was declared to be capital machinery for animal feed on papers.

So far, six of the dozen containers have been opened at the New Mooring Container Terminal at the port in presence of officials of the directorate and local customs house.

Meanwhile, in the other six containers of the second consignment a huge quantity of photocopy machines, cigarettes and television sets were found, Moinul Khan added.

“We are trying to trace both the importer and exporter as they are absconding since we are investigating the irregularities in this regard,” he said.