All cases must be taken to logical conclusion swiftly, Nirmala Sitharaman tells DRI

She appreciated the recent smuggling attempts of huge quantities of narcotics, gold, red sanders, ivory, cigarettes unearthed by DRI.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (Photo| ANI)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (Photo| ANI)

NEW DELHI:  Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday urged officials of revenue intelligence wings to take every case to logical conclusion expeditiously, so that it can deter perpetrators of economic crime like smuggling.

“You get a lot of intelligence input, but sometimes and many times it is difficult to identify if it is really actionable, sometimes they’re so generic. To act on it becomes difficult...capacity to be built within these institutions to make sure you’re able to see which of these intelligence inputs are so quickly actionable,” she said. The finance minister was addressing the 64th The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Foundation Day.

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 of India on anti-smuggling matters. Agencies like DRI based on their experience can give ideas on the methods through those illegal acts can be prevented, she said.

She appreciated the recent smuggling attempts of huge quantities of narcotics, gold, red sanders, ivory, cigarettes unearthed by DRI and said message through such enforcement actions should be such that these acts of brazen attempts at smuggling are nipped in the bud.

“I think attempts at preventing will also have to be undertaken by us while deterrence and detection will always have to be on the high,” she said.

According to a report released by the DRI on the occasion, gold smuggling shifted from the Middle East to Myanmar during 2020-21.

“The blocking of air routes throughout the lockdown period saw a significant shift in the modus operandi of smugglers from the air routes to the land route through the Indo-Myanmar border,” the DRI said in its annual report.

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