Smuggling cases at airport surge in festive season

250 cases of smuggling have been registered in Sept. and Oct. 2016 alone, out of the 250 booked this year.

Mumbai International Airport has registered 250 cases of smuggling in September and October alone out of a total 350 cases recorded during the whole of 2016. According to airport officials, the surge is owing to the fact that these two months coincide with the festive season.

Customs sources at Mumbai airport said that in the first half of 2016, Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) officials caught 42 cases of smuggling while in the second half, they seized valuables worth Rs 18 crore from nearly 296 cases. Of the 296 cases, 59 were of gold smuggling while 14 were of smuggling of electronics. Officers seized gold worth Rs 19 crore and electronic items worth Rs 88 crore.

Commenting on the rise in smuggling at the airport, deputy commissioner of AIU, Pradanyasheel Jumle, said, “Recently, gold smuggling has increased at the city airport, and the festival season is one of the reasons for it.”

According to data of smuggling attempts at Mumbai airport to which this newspaper has access, in 2015, 560 smuggling attempts were made and goods worth Rs 86.70 crore were seized. While in 2014, officers seized Rs 237 crore worth goods from 1,112 smuggling cases; the goods included gold, narcotics, red sanders and electronic components.

Customs officials said that recently, surveillance had been increased in the departures area as well and that had resulted in a sudden spurt in smuggling cases at the city airport. Officers had also started rummaging aircraft flying in from sensitive places such as Dubai and Singapore to find if gold or other valuable materials were hidden beneath seats or in toilets.

“We are also following the advance passenger information system to identify passengers who travel frequently on same routes, at regular intervals,” informed a senior AIU official.