KOCHI: With the Customs department increasing its vigil against gold smuggling, bootleggers are bringing in gold in paste form to beat the metal detectors. In Cochin International Airport, Nedumbassery, alone 10 kg of gold in paste form was recovered in the past two months indicating a spike in such cases. Customs officers say that gold smuggling cases too have increased at Nedumbassery airport in the first two months of the current fiscal compared to the same time period of the previous fiscal.
“The smugglers try to beat the enforcement agencies by adopting new technologies and find new ways of smuggling. The paste form gold is one such modus newly adopted by the smugglers,” said Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar. “Gold in paste form is consigned in jackets and handbags. The gold is converted into paste with the assistance of experts. But we have enhanced our intelligence gathering system, which is one of the reasons behind the high number of seizures in past few months,” he added.
The Customs department has requested the Central government to provide body scanners to detect smuggling of gold in compound forms. Body scanners are installed at all major airports overseas. “We have written to the Central government that all airports in Kerala should be provided with advanced body scanners. The smuggling of gold in compound form can be reduced by introducing advanced technologies at airports,” Kumar added.
The Customs department also has enhanced surveillance activities like monitoring frequent travellers by monitoring their passport details.In the first two months of current fiscal, as many 91 cases of gold seizure were reported at CIAL. As many as 21.24 kg of gold worth Rs 6.02 crore were seized. As many as six persons were arrested in connection with gold smuggling. In comparison, 5.218 kg of gold worth Rs 1.38 crore were seized at the same period of the previous fiscal. In FY2017-18, as many as 219 gold seizure cases were reported in which 29 persons were arrested. Similarly, 86.957 kg of gold worth Rs 23.70 crore were recovered.
The Customs Department on Saturday conducted meeting with security officers of Air India to curtail smuggling of gold and other contraband. “We have decided to conduct meeting with all security officers of airlines operating from Nedumbassery.We have sought their assistance and inputs which can be vital for nabbing the persons travelling with gold,” he said.
219 gold seizure cases were reported in FY2017-18 in which 29 persons were arrested