GOLDEN DECEPTION

SMUGGLERS SNEAK 300 TONNES OF THE YELLOW METAL INTO INDIA EVERY YEAR BY AIR, SEA AND LAND, BUT ONLY AFRACTION OF IT IS SEIZED, CAUSING THE GOVERNMENT ALOSS OF REVENUE WORTH Rs 30,000 CRORE

- ROHIT PARIHAR

GOLD SMUGGLING IS LUCRATIVE BUSINESS AGAIN. On November 13, customs officials at the Mumbai airport seized 61 kg of the precious metal worth Rs 32 crore in two cases, the largest single-day gold recovery. In the first case, four Indians who landed from Tanzania were caught carrying gold bars of 53 kg hidden in specially designed waist belts with multiple pockets. The suspects claimed that an unknown Sudanese had handed them the belts that concealed the UAE-made gold bars at Doha airport during transit. In the second case, eight kg of gold valued at Rs 3.88 crore was seized from one male and two female passengers who arrived from Dubai. The yellow metal was in the form of dust in wax hidden in the waistband of the jeans they wore. One of the accused women was in her 60s and wheelchair-bound.

The ‘Smuggling in India 2021-22’ report released by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the 65th Foundation Day of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on December 5 only confirms the trend. The agency seized 833.07 kg of smuggled gold worth Rs 405.35 crore in the previous financial year, of which 37 per cent was from Myanmar and 20 per cent from West Asia.