While the alarming rise in cases of gold smuggling at the Dabolim airport, exposes the lack of security and vigilance, it underlines an extremely dangerous fact – the complicity of ground staff at Bombay, and more crucially in Goa, in allowing smugglers to get away.
As we have reported, last year, a Goa-based travel agent and a loader were arrested for aiding gold smugglers. Recently, a woman CISF constable was arrested in a gold smuggling case at Dabolim airport. Senior customs officials admit and agree that while there has been a very disturbing trend in cases of passengers being caught smuggling gold, especially those arriving by the Air India flight 984 from Dubai via Bombay, there is a lot of ground to be covered.
Since January 2015, 20 cases of gold smuggling have been discovered and registered of which 11 cases involved passengers from flight AI-984 from whom six kilos of gold was seized. The big ask though is whether that is the actual haul or is the amount recovered a small sample of what has actually been smuggled?
The point is, as we have mentioned in our story in this edition, passengers with Bhatkal as their destination, seem to have – going by the cases – mastered the art of smuggling. This is therefore no longer just a customs issue but should come under the overall domain of security, taking into account the concerns of terrorism under whose shadow Bhatkal has lived. If gold can be smuggled as easily, other material, which can then been used either to fund or to be used in activity linked to terrorism can’t be ruled out. While there is no evidence of it, security agencies can rule this out only at their own peril and that of the nation.
19/09/15 Herald
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As we have reported, last year, a Goa-based travel agent and a loader were arrested for aiding gold smugglers. Recently, a woman CISF constable was arrested in a gold smuggling case at Dabolim airport. Senior customs officials admit and agree that while there has been a very disturbing trend in cases of passengers being caught smuggling gold, especially those arriving by the Air India flight 984 from Dubai via Bombay, there is a lot of ground to be covered.
Since January 2015, 20 cases of gold smuggling have been discovered and registered of which 11 cases involved passengers from flight AI-984 from whom six kilos of gold was seized. The big ask though is whether that is the actual haul or is the amount recovered a small sample of what has actually been smuggled?
The point is, as we have mentioned in our story in this edition, passengers with Bhatkal as their destination, seem to have – going by the cases – mastered the art of smuggling. This is therefore no longer just a customs issue but should come under the overall domain of security, taking into account the concerns of terrorism under whose shadow Bhatkal has lived. If gold can be smuggled as easily, other material, which can then been used either to fund or to be used in activity linked to terrorism can’t be ruled out. While there is no evidence of it, security agencies can rule this out only at their own peril and that of the nation.
19/09/15 Herald
