Gold Smuggling: From Mules To Airport Staff, Everyone Is A Suspect
Despite the reduction in customs duty, gold smuggling remains a significant threat, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said.
Gold smuggling in India has evolved, with smuggling syndicates now employing “mules” with diverse profiles, including foreign nationals and families, alongside insiders like airline and airport staff to evade detection.
In certain cases, airport employees and other staff members collude with these syndicates to smuggle gold from transit passengers.
These findings have featured in the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence’s annual report on smuggling in India for fiscal 2024. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, which oversees DRI, registered 6,425 cases of gold smuggling during the financial year.
As per the report, Indian authorities seized 4,869 kilograms of gold during fiscal 2024, with land routes contributing to about 55% of seizures and air routes contributing to around 36% of seizures.
Smuggling networks are highly organised and the use of complex, intricate routes and well coordinated operations by these syndicates makes gold smuggling into India a persistent challenge for enforcement agencies.2023-24 Report On Smuggling In India
The report has highlighted that smuggling operations have expanded beyond typical origin places in the Middle East and Southeast Asian countries to include African airports like Addis Ababa and Nairobi as well as Central Asian airports like Tashkent.
It has further been stated that smuggling gold in paste form continues to be a significant challenge. However, the DRI did make inroads into catching smugglers using innovative ways to get through the borders.
In Pune, for example, the DRI intercepted a female passenger carrying nearly 7 kg of gold in paste form, concealed in a custom-made belt around her waist and a pouch hidden in her undergarments. In another similar case, the DRI recovered nearly 15 kg of gold in paste form from a passenger’s kneecaps and specially designed pouches sewn into his pants.
In Gujarat, the DRI recovered about 50 kg of gold that was about to be smuggled with the help of airport officials at Surat International Airport.
In April this year, the DRI uncovered an ingenious mode of smuggling gold through the air cargo route.
DRI officers examined a shipment of goods, declared as a "lens center instrument," that had arrived in New Delhi from Hong Kong. When the officers dismantled the instrument, they discovered 1,300 grams of gold buried between its discs. The shipment yielded about 32 kg of gold, worth around Rs 20 crore.
Speaking at the DRI's 67th foundation day ceremony on Dec. 4, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra stated that despite the reduction in customs duty on gold, the metal's smuggling remains a significant threat.
In July, the customs duty on gold was cut from 15% to 6%.
“We are here not only for revenue but for the whole economy of the country. If, in the process of garnering some revenue, we hurt the industry or economy, that’s certainly not our intent. Revenue comes in only when there is some income. So, we have to be very cautious so that we do not in the process, as they say, kill the golden goose," Malhotra said.
