With the Indian government jacking up import duty on gold, smuggling of the yellow metal from Persian Gulf countries, Singapore and Malaysia is in full swing.
Ever since customs duty on the precious metal was raised from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent on July 5 in a desperate attempt to narrow the fiscal deficit, not a day passes without the arrest of gold-runners by eagle-eyed officials at one airport or the other in the country.
While techno-savvy customs sleuths at Kochi (Kerala) on August 6 busted a gang of six who had sneaked in 25 kg of gold bars from Dubai in the past few days, Sri Lankan officials collared six Chennai-bound Indian tourists carrying contraband gold worth Rs 17 million, at an international airport on August 4.
On August 3, even as gold prices zoomed to almost Rs 37,000 per 10 gram, seven gold biscuits worth Rs 2.9 million were recovered from a passenger, who had arrived at New Delhi from Dammam (Saudi Arabia), and his accomplice, an employee of Air India SATS, a joint venture between Air India Limited and Singapore-based SATS Limited.
What’s more, whip-smart contrabandists have hit upon novel tricks to bamboozle even alert law-keepers for pushing gold into India. If three women who had travelled from Colombo with gold paste concealed in plastic sheaths in their rectum were hauled up at Bengaluru airport, 2 kg of gold in paste form hidden in a waist band and floppy slippers was confiscated from a frequent flyer who had landed at Kochi from Dubai.
Indeed, among other ingenious modus operandi, smugglers have of late been hiding gold in toys, radios, bag handles, brass pipes, induction cookers, damaged chairs, emergency lights, vacuum cleaners, and hidden cavities of cars to throw dust in the eyes of the airport officials.
07/08/19 Mahesh Trivedi/Connected to India
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Ever since customs duty on the precious metal was raised from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent on July 5 in a desperate attempt to narrow the fiscal deficit, not a day passes without the arrest of gold-runners by eagle-eyed officials at one airport or the other in the country.
While techno-savvy customs sleuths at Kochi (Kerala) on August 6 busted a gang of six who had sneaked in 25 kg of gold bars from Dubai in the past few days, Sri Lankan officials collared six Chennai-bound Indian tourists carrying contraband gold worth Rs 17 million, at an international airport on August 4.
On August 3, even as gold prices zoomed to almost Rs 37,000 per 10 gram, seven gold biscuits worth Rs 2.9 million were recovered from a passenger, who had arrived at New Delhi from Dammam (Saudi Arabia), and his accomplice, an employee of Air India SATS, a joint venture between Air India Limited and Singapore-based SATS Limited.
What’s more, whip-smart contrabandists have hit upon novel tricks to bamboozle even alert law-keepers for pushing gold into India. If three women who had travelled from Colombo with gold paste concealed in plastic sheaths in their rectum were hauled up at Bengaluru airport, 2 kg of gold in paste form hidden in a waist band and floppy slippers was confiscated from a frequent flyer who had landed at Kochi from Dubai.
Indeed, among other ingenious modus operandi, smugglers have of late been hiding gold in toys, radios, bag handles, brass pipes, induction cookers, damaged chairs, emergency lights, vacuum cleaners, and hidden cavities of cars to throw dust in the eyes of the airport officials.
07/08/19 Mahesh Trivedi/Connected to India
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