Hyderabad: Gold smuggling is on the rise in Hyderabad from West Asian and Southeast Asian countries. Customs officials have booked 20 cases since March, and seized 34 kilos of gold, including Friday’s seizure of 18 kg at the Shamshabad international airport.
The smugglers are using different methods, such as smuggling gold in dust form disguised as henna powder, or gold bars hidden in footwear or clothes and luggage and, in some cases, even in the rectum of the carrier.
According to customs officials, the margin of profit for smugglers would be around `5 lakh per kilogramme, substantial enough to fuel the spurt in smuggling.
Most of the gold is smuggled in from Singapore, Dubai and Thailand. Customs commissioner M.K. Singh said, “In this financial year, 20 cases of gold smuggling involving 16 kg of gold valued at Rs 4.8 crore were detected and 13 persons were arrested. With Friday’s seizure, the figure has gone up.”
He said smugglers were concealing gold in the false bottom of luggage, in inner garments, secret pockets sewed into trousers and inside the soles of shoes. Those arrested face three to five years’ imprisonment and confiscation of the gold.
A person can legally import one kilo of gold by declaring it at Customs and paying duty. But import duty was increased this year, which is another reason for the spurt in gold smuggling.
Even after paying the increased duty, gold purchased abroad would still be cheaper than in India. But smugglers, or their carriers, try to maximise profit by trying to avoid paying duty.
The gold that was seized on Friday at Shamshabad airport was meant to be smuggled to Chennai. Customs chief commissioner B.B. Prasad said, “Gold smuggling has increased this year. The profit margins are high so they are resorting to smuggling.”
Prasad said that a week ago, Customs officials at the airport found smugglers bringing in gold in powder form that looks like henna powder. He said that profiling of the suspects is a painstaking job. “In Singapore, there are no restrictions or duty on what is carried out or carried in,” he said.
In October three passengers were held in Hyderabad for smuggling gold worth Rs 90 lakh. Salman Hyder, Hussain Ali and his wife Amthul Zahara travelling from Singapore and Bangkok respectively were arrested.
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