KOCHI: The police will enhance coordination with other central and state agencies active in Kochi airport to curtail criminal activities of gold and narcotic smuggling networks. A meeting of various central and state agencies was held at Ernakulam Rural police headquarters in Aluva on Tuesday.
The meeting was chaired by Ernakulam Rural police chief K Karthick and attended by representatives of customs, narcotics control bureau, state special branch, intelligence bureau, CISF, CIAL, airline companies and ground-handling companies. The police decided to enhance the surveillance activities on the airport premises. The police would also collect information from the public.
“We will be collecting information from the agencies performing different roles in the airport. We are looking to enhance the coordination among agencies. The customs is the primary agency that monitors gold smuggling activities at the airport. However, as an agency responsible for maintaining law and order, we will also ensure that airport premises are not used for illegal activities like trafficking of gold and drugs,” Karthick said.
According to him, the meeting was organised as part of the preventive measures. He said crimes linked with gold and drug smuggling have been reported in various parts of the state. “There have been incidents like abduction, extortion, assault and murder which are related to smuggling of gold and drugs. Conflicts between gangs involved in smuggling have also been reported. For the police, coordination with other agencies helps in investigating such cases. We can also take measures to prevent such criminal activities,” he said.
The Malappuram police had taken a similar step following the rise in gold smuggling activities through Karipur airport resulting in frequent gold seizures in recent times. The police also busted several criminal gangs which had kidnapped carriers arriving with smuggled gold from abroad. As the customs is hampered by severe staff shortage, checking all passengers arriving from abroad is a herculean task for the agency. Kochi, being the busiest airport in the state, has also been reporting a large number of gold smuggling cases in recent years.