Gold smuggling shoots up: 3,083 kg seized in 2022; Kerala tops the list

Enforcement agencies have seized 3,083 kg of gold till November this year, with Kerala accounting for the maximum number of seizures, Parliament was informed Monday (December 12).

Gold seizures across the country have gone up this year when compared to 2,383 kg seized in the 2021 calendar year and 2,154 kg in 2020. In 2019, 3,673 kg of gold was seized.

In 2022 (up to November), 3,083.61 kg of gold was seized in 3,588 cases.

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In Kerala, 690 kg of yellow metal was seized in 2022, up from 587 kg in 2021 and 406 kg in 2020. In 2019, 725 kg was seized.

Besides Kerala, states which account for high gold seizures this year till November 2022 are Maharashtra (474 kg), Tamil Nadu (440 kg), and West Bengal (369 kg).

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the government makes policy interventions and takes operational measures to check smuggling.

In the last three years, National Investigation Agency (NIA) has conducted investigations and filed charge sheets in three cases of gold smuggling, he said.

To deter the smuggling of gold, Customs field formations and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) keep constant vigil and take operational measures, such as passenger profiling, risk-based interdiction and targeting of cargo consignments, non-intrusive inspection, rummaging of aircraft and coordination with other agencies.

“Modus Operandi circulars related to new modus/method used by the gold smugglers are issued from time to time,” Chaudhary said.