CHENNAI: Drug smugglers are taking advantage of loopholes in checking of Chennai Customs as air customs rely on paperwork to clear consignments at airports.
Officials of customs department said that shortage of staff and congestion at the scanners are the main reasons for drug smugglers to easily ditch customs authorities. Parcels are scanned to detect contraband and explosives, but they are not opened unless there is a glaring mismatch in contents declared on the invoice.
Air customs personnel are also not equipped to check the authenticity of documents presented to export a consignment. An NOC from the assistant drug controller is all they look for before clearing a parcel containing medicines. Scans reveal that the box contains medicines but not what medicines are inside. As there is no network covering multiple departments to verify documents, fake documents pass without scrutiny.
Brazen advertisements and offers made by online portals that sell prescription drugs point to an agent customs-drug control official network.
