NEW DELHI: In a major haul of gold smuggled into Kerala, customs officers at Trivandrum International Airport on July 4 seized gold worth more than Rs 13 crore. The gold brought in the cargo was addressed to a consulate office in Manacaud, Thiruvananthapuram.
Around 30 kilograms of gold was seized from the cargo. According to the commissioner of customs Sumit Kumar, the parcel for the consulate office reached the airport in cargo flight a few days ago and the seizure was made based on intelligence information.
As per Customs Act and Diplomatic Relations (Vienna Convention) Act, two kinds of objects of the diplomats are exempted from inspection: articles for official use and the personal baggage of a diplomatic agent. In this case, the consignment was brought as personal baggage and customs officers had to seek permission from higher authorities for an examination of the consignment.
Here is all you need to know about the smuggling case to rock the southern Indian state —
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Caught in the Act
Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive) (CCP) seized 540.37 kg of gold worth Rs 187 cr in the state in fiscal 2019-20. This was double that of 2018-19 when CCP seized 251 kg of gold. In 2019-20, as many as 802 cases were registered by CCP in the state.
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Airport-wise busts in 2019-20
- Sleuths at Calicut Airport, under CCP, seized as much as 232 kg of gold in the last financial year
- Cochin Airport falls under the jurisdiction of Customs House, Cochin and the amount of gold seized in 2019-20 is estimated to be over 200 kg. However, Customs House is yet to officially publish figures
- CCP sleuths at Kannur Airport (opened in 2019) seized 47.1 kg of gold
- At Thiruvananthapuram Airport, which also falls under CCP, sleuths seized over 200kg of gold
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