India has seen a marked increase in smuggling of cocaine and gold, with borders in the country’s North-East becoming an area of concern and traffickers employing new techniques.
The revelations were made in the annual Smuggling of India report of the Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence (DRI), released by Union revenue secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Wednesday.
The report also talks about a rise in commercial fraud, including misuse of foreign trade agreements (FTA) by individuals/companies.
Addressing the 67th foundation day of DRI, Malhotra spoke about the growing complexity of financial crimes in the digital era and asked officials for continued skill upgradation and adoption of cutting-edge tools to nab smugglers.
Urging DRI officers to focus on the masterminds behind smuggling rackets, he asked them to be “very careful” while acting against sectors where complex technical issues are involved in interpreting tax rules.
He said CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) has come out with a circular requiring that investigators first discuss these cases with a technically competent person in the board.
“We are here not only for revenue, but we are here for the whole economy of the country. So, if in the process of garnering some small revenue, we are hurting the whole industry or the economy of the county, it is certainly not the intent,” he said.
“Revenue comes in only when there is some income, so we have to be very cautious so that we do not in the process, as they say, kill the golden goose,” the revenue secretary said.
{{/usCountry}}“Revenue comes in only when there is some income, so we have to be very cautious so that we do not in the process, as they say, kill the golden goose,” the revenue secretary said.
{{/usCountry}}According to the annual report, “Cocaine trafficking has seen a marked increase in India, particularly through direct routes from South America and via African countries.”
The agency recorded 47 cases in 2023-24 of smuggling of cocaine through the air route, against 21 cases the previous year.
Apart from cocaine, DRI has also noticed hydroponic marijuana bring smuggled in from the US, Thailand and other countries, the report stated.
On gold smuggling, the report stated that “India has become a major destination for illicit gold imports, with gold and silver predominantly originating from West Asia, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where these metals are sourced and available at lower prices”.
Smuggling through India’s porous eastern borders, particularly with Bangladesh and Myanmar, has also emerged as a major concern for law enforcement agencies, the report said, adding that “Manipur and Mizoram, due to their proximity to the border, have become hotspots for gold trafficking, evidenced by frequent seizures by DRI”.
The agency seized 1,319 kg gold during 2023-24 compared to 600kg the year before.
The federal agency, discussing other smuggling trends said in the report that Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are misused by traders through misclassification of imports and fake letters.
It recorded cases of FTA misuse worth ₹1,427 crore during 2023-24 compared to ₹481 crore in 2022-2023.
An official, who asked not to be named, said “DRI is vigilant against misuse of free trade agreements (FTAs) by unscrupulous elements either to save customs duties or to damage domestic industry by dumping low-quality cheaper goods of a non-FTA country by violating the rules of origin”.