Representational Image
Tamil Nadu News: Customs at Chennai, Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore airports are on high alert following a rise in gold smuggling. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Saturday arrested a part-time worker at the Chennai airport with 1.9 kg of gold worth Rs 83.86 lakh, who worked as a toilet cleaner. The CISF found that he was removing 12 pieces of gold hidden in the mop and gold hidden inside the soles of some shoes.
two passengers were arrested
A few days back, Chennai Air Customs arrested two passengers with 483 grams of gold and 50 cartons of cigarettes. These people had come from Dubai and were caught. Customs officials told the media that gold has also been seized at Tiruchi, Coimbatore and Madurai airports in the last few days and most of the gold has come from Middle Eastern countries.
The number of smugglers increased
Talking to the media, a senior official said, the number of smugglers bringing gold through international airports in Tamil Nadu has increased. The department has come to know of an organized network behind this.
All precautions are taken to prevent smuggling
The customs department has taken all precautions to check smuggling of gold, the official said. We have directed companies to be vigilant about supply contract workers and ensure that none of their employees is helping smugglers at airports.
Last month, ED had disclosed about many states
Earlier, the Central Investigation Agency ED conducted raids for three days from August 05 last month and raids were conducted at 21 premises in Chhattisgarh and one place in Jharkhand. It said in a statement that a case was registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to check smuggling of foreign goods and other precious metals from Bangladesh to Raipur (Chhattisgarh’s capital).
Gold was recovered by DRI: ED
The agency had taken cognizance of the chargesheet filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). “One person was caught by the DRI while smuggling gold and precious gems,” the ED said. “DRI had recovered gold from his possession, which was brought to India from Bangladesh and taken to Raipur via Kolkata on behalf of Vijay Kumar Vaidya alias Vicky and others,” he said.