With the covert help of a group of unscrupulous employees at Cochin International Airport Limited, a small-time hawala operator from Muvattupuzha, a sleepy town on the eastern outskirts of Ernakulam, engineered one of the biggest smuggling operations in the State’s history.
An investigation report by the Customs Department, which imposed a fine of ₹96 crore on 54 accused in the case, sheds light on how Noushad P.A, the key accused in the case, smuggled, stocked and dealt in gold. The document, prepared by Customs Commissioner K.N. Raghavan, explains in detail how Noushad maintained links with officials of the Immigration Department and a ground-handling agency and smuggled gold worth ₹455 crore from Dubai.
The report says Noushad and his brother Faisal appointed Yasir Ibnu Muhammed, Fazil KB, and Saifudheen M.S to recruit staff for smuggling gold. The trio recruited Shinoy K. Mohandas and Baburaj K. Hassan, both employees of a ground-handling agency, to work for the racket.
Later, Shinoy in connivance with his ramp supervisor Bibin Scaria lured their fellow workers and an employee of Jet Airways who together smuggled approximately 400 kg of gold for large sums as reward over a period of one-and-a-half years.
Similarly, Saifudheen and Faisal recruited two groups of airline staff, which together smuggled in another 38 kg of gold.
Specific spots
At the same time, Noushad had directly smuggled around 1,500 kg of gold with the help of Jabin K. Basheer, a Civil Police Officer under deputation in the Immigration Department. While initially it was Noushad who had himself carried gold to CIAL and handed it over to Jabin, the latter’s role soon changed to retrieving the gold placed in specific spots at the airport terminal by the carriers hired by Noushad.
The racket, which smuggled as much as 16 kg of gold on some days, adopted various methods. The smugglers concealed gold bars under the seats of passenger ferry buses and inside the toilet near the Immigration wing. They even gave Jabin a special waist belt to stock the gold after retrieving it from the toilet and the AC vent.
The money for the carriers and the racket members at CIAL was distributed through hawala network channels in the State and UAE.
