DUBAI: There has been an increase in arrests this year of passengers from Dubai smuggling gold into India as airport customs officials clamp down hard on the practice, media reports in India show.
Incidents of smuggling gold on Dubai-India flights have been rising as India continues to enforce a record high 10 per cent import duty on gold as part of measures to offset a weakening rupee.
Traders say Dubai is possibly the world’s cheapest place to buy gold as there is no tax on the precious metal and “making charges” on jewellery are low. The arrangement makes it very profitable for smugglers to buy gold in Dubai and sell it in India at a handsome premium — if they don’t get caught.
Just last week it was revealed in the Indian Express that some employees at Kochi airport in India were allegedly working with passengers from Dubai trained as carriers of gold. Over the past few months, authorities have so far amassed evidence of 1.8 tonnes of gold collectively smuggled through the couriers, the report added.
Also about a week ago, the Business Standard reported that the Air Intelligence Unit of Mumbai Customs seized 6.2kg of gold in two different seizures — all involving passengers from Dubai, including six members of a family who hid the gold in secret pockets in their clothes, according to Customs officials.
And since last month, an Indian newspaper reported, there have been at least two instances of passengers from Dubai attempting to take gold past Customs without declaring it at a small airport in Tamil Nadu state. In the first case, seven passengers were found carrying gold inside their bodies. In the other instance, the couriers were two women, who had also travelled on a flight from Dubai via Hyderabad.
Also in June, officials at an airport in Goa state caught a passenger from Dubai for allegedly smuggling around 7.7kg of gold, media reports said.
And earlier this year in February, police in Gujarat state revealed they had made the single biggest seizure of gold smuggled into India after arresting six people leaving an airport with 60kg of the yellow metal flown in from Dubai, Reuters had reported. Three passengers had reportedly admitted that traders had paid them up to $1,600 (Dh5,877) for one trip. Their air tickets, food and hotel costs were provided for free.
