NEW DELHI: In one of the biggest hauls of smuggled gold in the recent past, the customs department on Sunday seized Rs 10 crore worth of yellow metal at the IGI Airport from a passenger coming from Afghanistan.
This is the first time that Afghanistan, notorious for narcotics smuggling, has figured so prominently on the gold smuggling radar.
The development is notable as it comes in the backdrop of exponential rise in import of gold in India's neighbouring countries, in particular Pakistan, in the recent past.
Pakistan had to come up with import control measures a few months ago after gold import in the country rose by 400% last year over 2012 without any visible rise in demand in the domestic consumer market. Indian financial intelligence agencies have also detected similar rise in gold imports in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and China and believe part of it is headed to India through illegal routes.
According to Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), in the past one month alone 150 kg of gold has been seized on the Indo-Bangla border. Smuggling of gold has reached new heights in the past one year after government hiked duty on gold to 10% from 1% a couple of years ago to reign in a burgeoning current account deficit.
In the past one year, India has seen seizures of close to 3000 kg of smuggled gold every month. Actual smuggling, says sources, is far higher. In the present case, custom authorities at IGI airport in Delhi intercepted 10 passengers coming from Herath in Afghanistan.
The passengers, which included one man and nine women, were intercepted during routine surveillance while they attempted to cross the Green Channel. On their personal search, 38.43 kg of gold (including necklace, kada, chain and bullion which the passengers were either wearing or hiding in their clothes) were recovered from their person. The total value of the seized gold is estimated to be Rs 10,60,19,646.
The smuggled items were seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962 and the passengers were arrested under Section 104 of the act, said sources.
A senior DRI official said, "The Afghanistan has rarely seen any gold smuggling in a long time. There have been a few instances but they all involved very small amounts and did not indicate any racket behind it as in this case. In that way, this is the emergence of a new route and given that Afghanistan does not produce gold, it must have been brought from some other country."
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