Central investigative agencies have gone on high alert after the recent incidents of attempted gold and cigarette smuggling at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (CCSIA).
These incidents raised concerns about a potential connection to anti-national activities and terror-funding. Giving credence to the suspicions is the fact that many smugglers hailing from one village of Uttar Pradesh have been caught at approximately 15 airports across the country within a short span of time.
Sources within Customs said that the heightened vigilance comes in response to the unprecedented scale of attempted smuggling at the airport on April 1, when an IndiGo flight from Sharjah arrived in Lucknow, carrying 169 passengers, of which 36 were suspected smugglers.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), utilising data mining techniques, had identified these individuals as potential smugglers even before the flight landed. Upon arrival, only the luggage belonging to the suspected smugglers was retrieved, while the remaining cargo was left unclaimed.
However, 29 of these managed to escape from the airport. The escape of 29 smugglers from the airport’s international terminal prompted central intelligence agencies to go on alert, dispatching a joint team to a Rampur village for further investigation.
Another official of Customs, on condition of anonymity, said, “As investigations continue, various agencies remain vigilant to thwart any further attempts of smuggling at the airport. The collaborative efforts to curb illicit activities will yield results soon.”
{{/usCountry}}Another official of Customs, on condition of anonymity, said, “As investigations continue, various agencies remain vigilant to thwart any further attempts of smuggling at the airport. The collaborative efforts to curb illicit activities will yield results soon.”
{{/usCountry}}He said, “The number of smugglers hailing from one village have been caught at approximately 15 airports across the country within a short span of time. And this is concerning.”
According to intelligence sources, till now, action was limited to arrest, seizure and interrogation, but now they are trying to look beyond this. There is a possibility of a nexus between smuggling operations and terror-funding, say insiders.
Since January, 176 smugglers have been caught at Lucknow airport. Most of these arrests were made based on intelligence provided by the DRI. As a result of these efforts, law enforcement agencies have successfully seized gold worth ₹28 crore and foreign cigarettes worth ₹8 crore at the airport.