Thiruvananthapuram: The Trivandrum International Airport in the Kerala capital has turned into a hub of gold smuggling, according to the Customs and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
Authorities suspect that as many as 25kg of gold was smuggled through the airport every day before the COVID-19 lockdown.
Why Thiruvananthapuram
Experts have identified several factors that make the silent airport in Thiruvananthapuram a ‘safe haven for smuggling’. As the airport is situated inside the city, there are lesser chances of other gangs stealing the gold from the crowded region. Also, gold can be safely stashed away at various parts of the city. And also, it is easier to smuggle it to other states as Thiruvananthapuram is a border district. None of the other airports in Kerala have these favourable factors.
Another factor aiding the culprits is the ‘blind spots’ at the airport. Around 10kg of gold was seized from an airport technician earlier. The authorities had found that he had passed through the tarmac and aerobridge. But they could not find his presence at certain areas. This was due to the absence of the CCTV cameras in certain areas, described as blind spots by the officials. After the Customs and the DRI demanded that cameras be installed in these areas, around 500 cameras were placed by the CISF.
Delhi case
The Customs officer, who was part of the team that arrested Uzbekistan woman Olga Kozireva for smuggling yards of silk at the Delhi airport in 2000, had led the operation in which the 30-kg gold was seized in Thiruvananthapuram recently. Chinese silk, worth crores of rupees, were smuggled with the help of the customs officials then. In this case, nine Group A officers and 35 Group B officers of the Customs were arraigned as accused.
