New methods being adopted for gold smuggling

After China, India is the second largest consumer of gold in the world. India imports a large amount of gold. Along with this, large scale gold smuggling is also taking place in the country. Earlier most of the country's gold was smuggled from the Middle East but now Myanmar has overtaken this. Most of the gold smuggled into India comes from Myanmar. In the year 2021-22, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in the country had smuggled 37 percent of the gold brought into India through Myanmar. 20 percent of the illegal gold seized in the country comes from the Gulf countries. Seven percent of the gold smuggled into India reached India through Bangladesh, while 36 percent of the gold smuggled from other countries reached India.

According to the 2021-22 Smuggling in India report, gold smuggling cases have increased during the Corona period in the country. Last year, 160 cases of smuggling were caught out of which a total of 833.07 kg of gold worth Rs 405.35 crore was seized. Most of the gold seized by the DRI in 2020-21 and 2021-22 was smuggled from Myanmar. This title was held by Middle East in 2019-20. A new trend has been seen in gold smuggling in the country. Smuggling of gold through couriers has increased due to the fact that international flights were closed during the Corona period and people were not allowed to travel abroad.

According to the report, Tamru-Moreh-Imphal route of Manipur and Jokhatwar route of Mizoram along Myanmar border are the most smuggled routes in the country. However, the DRI has increased surveillance along these routes, leading to the seizure of large quantities of gold.

Smugglers are adopting innovative methods to smuggle gold. According to the report, four courier parcels from UAE to Delhi were intercepted at the New Courier Terminal on July 2021. It contained parts of autos and other machinery, but on closer inspection, 16.79 kg of gold worth Rs 8.07 crore was found, which was melted down and kept hidden between the machines.

Drug seizures have increased manifold in the last financial year. According to the data, the seizure of cocaine, known as the 'party drug', has increased 36 times to 130 kg during the financial year, which is a matter of great concern. Officers seized 8.7 kg of cocaine in 2020-21 and 1.1 kg in 2019-20. DRI officials seized 884.69 kg of methamphetamine during the period under review. 2020-21 seized 64.39 kg of methamphetamine. This is 14 times the figure of 64.39 kg in 2020-21. In addition, officials seized 3,410.71 kg of heroin during the last financial year. This amount is 17 times as compared to the previous financial year. Out of this, 2,988 kg of heroin was seized from Mundra port.

In financial years 2020-21 and 2019-20, 202 kg and 143 kg of heroin were seized across the country respectively. However, the seizure of ganja has come down to 26,946 kg in 2021-22. 45,992 kg of ganja was seized in 2020-21 and 34,797 kg in 2019-20.