The Mumbai airport has been identified as the largest hub of gold smuggling in India by the customs department. This revelation was made after the seizure of 604kg of smuggled gold worth Rs 360 crore at the Mumbai international airport within a period of 11 months.
Seizure of 604kg of smuggled gold worth Rs 360 crore at the Mumbai
international airport in just 11 months has earned it the dubious distinction of
being the countrys number one airport in such hauls, overtaking Delhi at 374kg
and Chennai’s 306kg, the customs department has revealed. The seizure at
Mumbai airport between April 2022 and February 2023 is also a sharp increase
from 91kg in 2022-23.
Mumbai is a transit hub for gold smugglers as there is a big market for the
precious metal; several syndicates, including jewellers, finance the racketeers, say
customs officials. The other three metro cities of Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai too
are preferred for the international routes. Hyderabad has also seen a slow rise in
gold smuggling cases with 124kg seized compared with 55kg seized last year.
Before the pandemic, in 2019-20, Delhi airport had witnessed seizure of 494kg
smuggled gold, Mumbai 403kg and Chennai 392kg. During 2020-21, when gold
smuggling significantly reduced, rackets involving smuggling oflSOkg were
busted at Chennai airport, 146.9kg at Kozhikode, 88.4kg at Delhi and 87kg at
Mumbai.
According to documents uncovered by Four Corners, the Perth Mint got caught selling $9 billion of diluted gold to China and tried to cover it up.
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