Customs authorities have said that gold brought in by air passengers through the legal channel at the Kochi airport has jumped multifold while smuggling has ebbed.

While gold brought in by passengers, mostly from Dubai and other Gulf destinations, by paying the import duty in September was just 3.26 kg, it shot to 62 kg in the first two weeks of December. Since September, the import duty on gold collected at Kochi was Rs. 2.30 crore.

However, the smuggled gold seized was 20 kg in September. This dropped to zero this month. In November, 11.21 kg of gold was seized. Of this, 11 kg was from 54 Sri Lankan nationals arriving from Colombo.

Increased vigil Following a series of gold seizures, the Customs authorities intensified checking of passengers and their baggage deploying more personnel and using advanced equipment.

In the wake of the Central Government’s imposition of hefty duties and restrictions on gold imports, there had been a jump in smuggling through Kerala’s three international airports. A substantial part of the smuggling was from Dubai and other Gulf countries.

While the smuggling was mostly by carriers hired by smuggling rackets, the gold brought in through the legal channels was mainly by non-resident Keralites working in the Gulf.

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