Gold smugglers take help of Indira Gandhi Int’l airport staff
Instead of coming out at Delhi airport, they use a connecting flight to a domestic airport. Since there are no checks by customs at domestic airports, they manage to smuggle out the gold.
AIRPORT OFFICIAL
The baggage make up area of the Delhi airport, where ground handlers shift the bags of passengers in transit, has emerged as the weakest link in the smuggling of gold.
A section of the ground staff is helping smugglers to ensure that the yellow metal escapes the eyes of customs officials. The customs department at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) recently caught an Air India employee trying to sneak a two-kg gold bar worth `50 lakh out of the airport.
When questioned, he told officials that he took out the gold from the baggage of a passenger, who had come from Singapore and was going to Dubai. “With the help of airport employees, the smugglers have found a new way to smuggle gold. Passengers, who bring gold, do not have to come out of the airport and can use a connecting flight.
During their stay in the transit lounge, the airport employees take out gold from their baggage and smuggle the consignment out of the airport. We have increased vigil in the transit area,” said a customs official.
Officials said passengers coming from abroad use connecting flights within India to avoid being caught.
“Instead of coming out at Delhi airport, they use a connecting flight to a domestic airport. Since, there are no checks by customs at domestic airports, they manage to smuggle out gold,” the official added.
The customs department has noticed that after a crackdown, the smugglers changed the modus operandi and started handing over smuggled gold to airport employees after arrival to get it out of the airport premises.
‘According to sources, CCTV footage helps the officials to track the movement of suspicious passengers and their interaction with airport employees. In many cases, gold is exchanged in the washroom, where there is no CCTV coverage. “Since before crossing the green channel the smugglers can contact airport employees, they are now using them to take the smuggled gold out of the airport. Airport employees are usually not checked while exiting. We need to keep a check on this trend,” the official added.
A few smugglers have even been caught handing over the gold to domestic passengers, who are not considered as suspicious since they are not coming from an international destination.