Smuggling syndicates making use of rear opportunity

The crime syndicates engaged in smuggling gold into the state are always inventing newer and newer methods to outsmart the enforcement agencies, especially the Customs authorities.

KOCHI: The crime syndicates engaged in smuggling gold into the state are always inventing newer and newer methods to outsmart the enforcement agencies, especially the Customs authorities. To catch up with the ingenious criminals, the Customs sleuths who are known to go by the rules often go the extra mile to thwart these nefarious designs.

Lately, the Customs personnel deployed at airports are forced to bear a heavy workload on account of an abnormal rise in the number of gold smuggling cases.  More worryingly, in 70 per cent of the gold smuggling cases detected at the Cochin International Airport Ltd(CIAL), the ‘carriers’ had concealed the gold in their rectum. Though Customs officers said concealing gold in the rectum had been employed by the bullion smugglers in the past also, this has emerged as a favourite tactic  to evade detection. The modus operandi is apparently preferred by the smuggling syndicates since the chances of evading detection by the authorities and even the metal detector is pretty high.

According to Roy Varghese, Assistant Commissioner, Air Intelligence Unit, CIAL, the sleuths had over the last couple of months foiled around 25 attempts to smuggle gold into the state through CIAL and seized gold worth `5 crore from carriers. In majority of the cases, the yellow metal was concealed in the rectum.

In such instances, the Customs sleuths first have to take the carrier to the toilet where they coerce or cajole the accused to defecate. If the accused refuse to cooperate, the courier/couriers will be taken to hospital by the sleuths with the permission of a magistrate to scan the body of the accused and take the bullion out of the bowel, he said. A senior Customs officer at CIAL cited the case of a person who was taken into custody on suspicion of carrying gold. However, he refused to cooperate with the officers during interrogation and later he was twice taken to the Immigration Department’s toilet situated  on the upper floor. Each time, he feigned ignorance and walked carefully through the stairs. Later, after being subjected to sustained interrogation, he revealed he was indeed carrying 13 gold biscuits in his bowel.

In the past, the carriers used to be given training on how to walk away undetected with the gold in their rectum as the quantity of gold smuggled into the state was quite high. But after the frequent fliers came under the Customs’ radar in the wake of the spurt in smuggling cases, the smugglers employed low- profile passengers returning home on holiday to traffic relatively small quantities of gold ranging from 300 gm- 600 gm.

It has also been found a good number of  passengers coming in from overseas are jeopardising  their future as the smugglers play with their lives in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with the authorities, said the Customs officers.

The smugglers use condom, carbon paper and petroleum jelly to wrap the gold before inserting the contraband into the rectum to avoid detection. If the quantity of contraband is relatively low, there will be a single line in the door frame metal detector as the passenger passes through the green channel. If passengers wearing gold ornaments pass through the detector, it will provide similar indications. Taking note of this, the smugglers employ couriers with medium sized consignments.After this came to the notice of the authorities concerned, the Customs has now set the volume of the gold to be taken through the channel at the low scale.

In the past, they set the volume of gold to be carried at medium scale to avoid embarrassment to passengers wearing ornaments and metal objects on their body.  Besides this, the smugglers employ tactics like hiding the gold in flight toilets, beneath the seat cover,  inside electronic and electrical equipment, molding them into various forms and shapes to fit inside the electronic goods and suitcase handles and beadings.

Modus operandi, foiled bids

* The carrier will be arrested if the value of the seized gold seized exceeds Rs 20 lakh and the person will be remanded if it exceeds Rs 1 crore, apart from penalty imposed in all seizures irrespective of the value
* Section 103 of the Customs Act, 1962 gives powers to screen or X-ray bodies of suspected persons for detecting concealed goods
* In the case of concealing goods inside the body, the sleuths can take the person concerned to a radiologist possessing qualifications recognised by the Centre to screen or X-ray his body with the permission of a magistrate

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