KOCHI:Gold smuggling into the state touched an all-time high with Customs seizing over 100 kg of gold from three international airports in Kerala in the first four months of current financial year. The amount of gold seized from Nedumbassery, Karipur and Thiruvananthapuram till July is higher than the gold seized the entire previous year.
As per the figures provided by various Customs formations at airports in Kerala, as many as 113 kg of gold were seized during the period April 1- to July 25. The number of gold seizure cases registered in three airports stood at 318. During the entire 2017-18 fiscal as many as 286 cases were registered in which 106 kg of gold was seized.
The Thiruvananthapuram and Karipur airports, which come under Commisionarate of Customs Preventive (CCP), have witnessed fivefold rise in the number of gold seizures. So far, 68 kg of the gold were seized from these airports in first four months of this fiscal, whereas total seizures in the last fiscal stool at a mere 19 kg. Similarly, the number of case registered has grown up from 32 last year to 191 till July this financial year.
“There is a huge spike in the number cases registered at Thiruvananthapuram and Karipur airports. Of the 191 cases registered by CCP, around 70 per cent case were from Karipur airport. The seizures have increased as surveillance activities have been enhanced. Smugglers are trying to bring gold through Karipur airport on the belief the security arrangement would be comparatively minimal,” an officer said.
The Customs House, which deployed units at Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), has registered 127 cases in the first four months of the current fiscal year. During the same time period, 45.12 kg of gold were seized from CIAL. In the last fiscal, 254 cases were registered and 87 kg of gold recovered.
Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar said enhanced intelligence gathering is resulting in high number of seizures at various airports. “We are coordinating with various agencies, airport authority and airlines to provide information regarding gold smuggling taking place through airports. Frequent fliers are monitored and they are well checked to prevent smuggling activities,” he said.
Five gold seizures at CIAL in last two days
Kochi: Customs officials have registered five gold seizure cases including recovery of gold in paste form from Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) in the last two days. As many as 2.27 kg of gold were seized in five cases. A total 1.27 kg of gold in paste form were seized in two cases, said Customes in a press release. Gold ornaments and bars were recovered in three other cases. “A passenger belonging to Kozhikode, who arrived from Riyadh, was caught for smuggling 755.290 grams of gold in paste form. In another case a Palakkad native was caught for smuggling 511 grams of gold in paste form,” an officer said In another case, a passenger from Muvattupuzha tried to smuggle 2 gold chains weighing 582 grams worth Rs 16.25 lakh. The passenger arrived from Bahrain.