Smugglers have been making massive profit by selling cheap liquor in expensive bottles in the state. The Maharashtra Excise Department explained how such gangs procure empty high-cost bottles, fill them up with cheap liquor procured duty free from other states and sell them for higher price. In the past two years, the department has seized such illegal liquor bottles worth about Rs 200 crore.

The department on Sunday seized  high-end scotch bottles worth Rs 1.24 crore from Nalasopara East and arrested six people. These bottles were smuggled from Madhya Pradesh, said officers. They were seized before the smugglers could mix them with cheap liquor and sell for profit.