5 Customs officials in DRI net for aiding smugglers at city airport

Airport sources said the DRI team had initially intercepted 13 passengers who arrived from various countries after they were cleared by customs officials. The team carried out checks and found them carrying gold.

On Wednesday morning, within a span of an hour, the DRI had identified the 13 passengers who arrived from three different cities abroad with smuggled goods including gold and electronic items worth lakhs of rupees.

Though the passengers initially had a tussle with the DRI officials who were in plain clothes, during questioning, they later confessed to smuggling with the help of customs officials.

The sources added that among the detained officials, two are from the air intelligence unit of the Customs, one Superintendent and an Assistant Commissioner. “They are being interrogated and senior officials from Customs and DRI have been camping at the airport ever since the crackdown,” one of the sources said. The possibility of at least two Customs officials being arrested is very high, the sources said.

The Chennai airport Customs has recorded 67% increase in booking of cases for attempted smuggling and 63% in value of seized articles in 2019 compared to 2018. The value of the total seizure of smuggled items was Rs 140 crore in 2019 compared to Rs 85 crore the previous year.