Government Agencies keeping an eye on Smuggling of Gold and Silver

The Union Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply to a question raised in Lok Sabha Stated, “Government Agencies keeping an eye on Smuggling of Gold and Silver.”

Government agencies have detected cases of attempted smuggling of gold and silver.

The details of airports and other sources where such attempted smuggling were identified are provided in Annexure-A (for gold) and Annexure-B (for silver).

The smugglers of gold and silver adopt various methods to smuggle gold and silver, including body concealment. In order to deter smuggling of gold and silver, the Customs field formations and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) keep a constant vigil and take operational measures such as passenger profiling with the aid of Advance Passenger Information System (APIS), Risk-based interdiction and targeting of cargo consignments, non-intrusive inspection, rummaging of aircraft and coordination with other agencies. On detection of cases of attempted smuggling, action is taken in accordance with law, including seizure and confiscation of smuggled gold/ silver.

Yes, the involvement of cabin crew/ airport staff has been noticed in some cases of attempted smuggling of gold. Action is taken against such persons in accordance with law. The numbers of such cases booked and persons arrested are given in Annexure-C.

The details of seizure of gold and silver in cases of smuggling from airports across the country during each of the last three years, airport-wise are given in Annexure-D and Annexure-E respectively.

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