Smugglers turn to courier services to push contraband

Customs Department takes steps to strengthen monitoring of inbound parcels

The recent busts by the Customs Department in Kochi have revealed that international cartels are turning to the Postal Department to push contraband to the State. In January alone, the Postal Apprising Department of the Cochin Customs detected a couple of drug trafficking cases and three attempts to smuggle foreign currency on examination of international inbound parcels received at the Foreign Post Office in the city.

While the volume of foreign currency being smuggled was relatively high — ₹5.28 lakh in three cases — the quantity of drugs intercepted remain comparatively small.

The highest quantity of drugs that has been intercepted thus far is around 650 grams of cocaine and mescaline. They were found stashed inside a parcel addressed to a Kochi native. In the second case, officials recovered a hashish bar weighing nearly 98 grams from a parcel addressed to Thrissur.

Sources attribute the rise in smuggling through international couriers to loopholes in the system, as such consignments normally undergo thorough checking at the point of export though the contents are mostly determined based on a risk analysis after an x-ray screening. According to them, the regulations for shipment of packages are not strictly followed in many places.

Commenting on the issue, Sumit Kumar, Commissioner of Customs, said that the high number of cases this year was reflective of successful interception, whereas the actual number of smuggling attempts through mail services could be much higher.

“All sorts of very expensive drugs, besides antiques, wildlife products, and other banned articles are flowing into the State through the postal service. Preliminary investigations have pointed to the role of dedicated international rackets in such operations, and steps are in place to strengthen the monitoring of such inbound parcels,” the officer said.

Based on the findings, the department has apprised fellow enforcement agencies as well as the Department of Posts of the abuse of its services by drug pushers, so as to evolve a foolproof mechanism to detect and track offenders. “We look to coordinate with agencies like the Customs Overseas Intelligence Network and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to trace the origin of the parcels,” Mr. Kumar added.

Confronted with an acute manpower shortage, the department plans to introduce more scanners and a sniffer dog squad.