Hyderabad: It’s raining gold at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad. Over the past seven months, customs officials have seized about 37 kilograms of gold being smuggled into the city from foreign countries. This is 300 per cent the amount of gold seized in the same period last year.

Between April and October this year, officials have charged 93 persons smuggling gold and seized 37 kg of gold. In the same period last year, they registered 25 cases and seized a total of 11.453 kg of gold.

A senior customs official says that the department has tightened its intelligence network and hence been successful at apprehending gold smugglers. “The collection of intelligence plays an important role in tracking down gold smugglers. Additionally, some new techniques have been adopted to track and trap gold smugglers,” says the official.

Officials say that of the 27 cases registered in October alone, 16 were against persons who arrived at the airport from Dubai and three were against persons who arrived from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

“Large consignments are being split into smaller ones and scattered among carriers who smuggle the gold into the country. Orga-nised syndicates of smugglers ensure that large consignments are not brought in,” he said.

If gold worth over Rs 20 lakh is seized, the smuggler is arrested. Other-wise, the property is seized and the smuggler is issued a notice, which is why they avoid large consignments,” the official added.

First time travellers lured to carry gold consignments
Jewellery-making units and shops in and around Gulzar Houz and Ameerpet continue to be the final destination of the gold smuggled into the city from countries such as Dubai.

Gold is smuggled into the city through a chain of persons, which includes women. “People coming to India for the first time are lured into carrying gold bars as they are unsuspecting and they easily get through the airport exit,” says a customs official.

The smuggling syndicates keep a close watch on the modus operandi adopted by customs officials to catch smugglers and accordingly develop their own methods to evade them.

“Gold is usually smuggled in biscuit form, concealed in footwear or undergarments. The carriers are usually small-time workers in the Middle East who are easily lured by free tickets,” says an official. The carriers hand over their consignments to persons standing outside the airport before collecting their commissions and leaving.

Sources say that such receivers are only employed when persons unfamiliar to the country act as carriers. Otherwise, local youths are sent to the Middle East on tourist visas to bring gold back with them. In such cases, the consignments are collected from their homes. The youth are paid a commission as well as offered free tickets, visas and accommodation. Apart from gold, they also smuggle electronic items into the country.