The art of gold smuggling is becoming as creative as it can get.
The eagerness of gold smugglers to get around the tariff route was once again evident when Customs sleuths at Cochin International Airport on Sunday recovered gold concealed within the frames of four umbrellas.
The person, a native of Kozhikode, had arrived from Muscat by an Oman Airways flight in the morning. The metal, weighing 998.50 grams and valued at ₹31 lakh, was recovered after dismantling the umbrella frames. A case has been registered under the Customs Act 1962.
According to officials, smugglers have an understanding with rackets wherein the latter conceal any quantity of gold inside any equipment and make it fit enough to be transported in passenger baggage. Since such frauds cannot be detected using a scanner alone, officials are resorting to conventional techniques such as weighing the suspicious object to assess if its overall weight has increased or not.
“Intelligence officers are keeping tight vigil on the movement of suspected passengers in and outside the airport in view of the sharp rise in smuggling activities,” said Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar.
203 cases
The air customs in Kochi has alone seized around 57 kg of gold and registered 203 cases in this connection over the past six months.
The agency also cleared over 10.50 lakh passengers from 6,746 flights during the same period and collected customs duty worth ₹2.93 crore, in addition to around ₹10 lakh in fine and penalty in 19,044 cases.
