The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) celebrated its 64th Founding Day on December 4. 

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), is an intelligence and enforcement agency of the government on anti-smuggling matters. 

Speaking at the 64th DRI Foundation Day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged officials of intelligence wings to take every case to logical conclusion expeditiously, so that it can deter perpetrators of economic crimes like smuggling.

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence

• The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) was constituted in 1957 as the apex anti-smuggling intelligence and investigation agency functioning under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to counter the menace of smuggling in India. 

• Over the years, DRI has established itself as the premier intelligence agency commanding the trust of international and national agencies with its intelligence inputs on myriad subjects — ranging from fake currency notes, narcotics, gold, arms & ammunition, wildlife, cultural heritage and commercial fraud. 

• The organisation has sought to reorient itself to new and emerging challenges, such as those relating to black money, money laundering and narco-terrorism.

• DRI has also been at the forefront in international Customs collaboration through Customs Mutual Assistance Agreements of CBIC with over 60 other countries, where thrust is on information exchange and learning from the best practices of other Customs administrations.

• DRI enforces the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 and over fifty other allied Acts including the Arms Act, NDPS Act, COFEPOSA (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities), Wildlife Act, Antiquities Act, etc. 

• It undertakes collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of intelligence relating to smuggling, carries out investigations, adjudication of cases and prosecution of the arrested persons. 

• The DRI has also been designated as the lead agency for S-CORD, the national anti-smuggling coordination centre. 

• Being the apex anti-smuggling enforcement organisation and given its track record in collaborative endeavours, DRI is expected to carry along the border agencies towards the common objective of thwarting smuggling activities that pose a grave threat to national security and economic well-being of the country.

Additional read:

The role of DRI in curbing smuggling

Among the commodities smuggled into the country, gold occupies the prime position which is closely followed by narcotics and psychotropic substances, cigarettes, foreign currency, agricultural produce and wild plants and animals. India has become the fourth largest and fastest growing illegal cigarette market in the world with smuggled ones accounting for a quarter of the domestic cigarette industry.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store