Customs officials rubbish reports of smuggling at Pune airport

Pune Customs officials at the Pune Airport have rubbished the reports in section of the media which claimed that the city airport has become a safe haven for gold smugglers. Citing that the city airport is a military-operated airbase besides being a very small international aerodrome, the customs officials have said that their counterparts in Mumbai, who have made such statements, should instead have taken initiatives to cease the smuggled gold if any at the Pune Airport.
In February, media had reported that tighter security at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, had resulted in smugglers taking the Dubai-Pune route before traveling to Mumbai by road. The reports were backed by two consecutive cases at Pune Airport in November/ December last year in which one Moinuddin Bappa and Ahmed Saipoddin Khadia were arrested for allegedly smuggling Rs 38 and Rs 25.72 lakh gold respectively.
“The two cases cannot be tagged as those of smuggling since the profit margins in the amounts involved is very small. We had asked the two to pay the duty on the excess quantities which they were carrying and when they refused, we arrested them,” said one of the customs officials at Pune Airport.
11/03/12 Pranav Kulkarni/Express India

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Categories: airports Mar 2012