Customs seizes 8 kg gold worth over Rs 11 cr at Kerala airports in one week

KOCHI: Customs has seized eight kg of smuggled gold worth more than Rs 11 crore at airports across Kerala over the past one week, officials said on Sunday.

Customs Commissioner T Tiju, in a statement, said 14 cases were registered during the period and nine persons, including six Keralites and three natives of Tamil Nadu, were arrested.

Tiju said the operations were carried out in close coordination with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and the Kerala Police, and that the inter-agency cooperation contributed to the successful detection of several smuggling attempts.

According to Customs, the recent seizures point to an increasing use of highly sophisticated concealment methods by organised international gold smuggling networks.

"Smugglers are increasingly attempting to evade detection by converting gold into paste or compound forms and concealing it inside specially tailored clothing, body cavities, aircraft seats and other unconventional locations," the Customs Commissioner said.

Tiju said Customs formations across Kerala have significantly strengthened passenger profiling, intelligence gathering and inter-agency coordination to counter these emerging smuggling trends.

The Commissioner said Customs remains committed to preventing the smuggling of precious metals and protecting the country's economic interests.

Investigations are continuing to identify the syndicates and financiers behind the organised smuggling operations.