MUMBAI (Scrap Monster): The Customs officials at the Mumbai International Airport in India are all set to create new record in gold seizures this year. With just two months remaining, the gold seized by the Customs officials until second week of October has so far totaled 815 kilograms. This is more than double the quantity of gold seized during entire 2013. The value of seized gold now stands at Rs 205 crores.

 

The Direct Revenue Intelligence (DRI) under the Customs Department had beefed up the scrutiny mechanisms and security procedures at the airport, due to increased incidents of gold smuggling activities. The gold seizures during the past three years has shown steady rise. The gold seized in 2012 had totaled just 63 kilograms. There was five-fold rise in gold seizures in 2013 to 346 kilograms, following imposition of higher gold import duty.

 

The alert and agile actions by officials have foiled a handful of unconventional techniques that smugglers adopt to sneak gold into the country. Meantime, smugglers have resorted to novel techniques to carry gold. The state-of-the-art surveillance mechanism at the international and domestic terminals of the airport has played prominent role in nabbing gold smugglers.

 

Going by the current rate, the quantity of gold seized in a full year is all set to cross 1000 kilograms in 2014, for the first time in the Airport’s history.