BENGALURU: New Delhi headquarters has warned of a new modus operandi by gold smugglers, particularly in airports such as Chennai, Tiruchy, Cochin, and Trivandrum, sources said.
As per this new methodology, multiple ‘carriers’ smuggling in small quantities of gold would be travelling in the same aircraft. When they land at the airport, one or a few of them would feign a sudden illness or wantonly get into an argument with authorities to create a distraction. This would allow the larger group to escape detection by Customs staff and facilitate their escape from the airport, the advisory has warned.
Sources said that this was a tactical move by organised gold smuggling syndicates to take advantage of the difficulty faced by agencies like Customs in passenger facilitation and enforcement activities. It would be a difficult task for the handful of Customs staff to detect gold concealment when a large number of passengers land from a single aircraft, especially from popular locations like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Sources said that a few such incidents have been recorded in the last one year in Lucknow, Tiruchy, Trivandrum, and Chennai.
The advisory has warned Customs authorities at various airports to take proactive measures to use data analytics and identify frequent flyers to prevent such organised smuggling attempts.