Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Smugglers, Drug Mafia Flock to South

Kochi:  If the current crime trend is any indication, Kochi is turning into the new heaven for smugglers and drug traffickers, with enforcement agencies struggling to contain smuggling of gold, ivory and artifacts; rave parties and wildlife poaching.

Speaking to ‘Express,’ a senior Customs official who is investigating the recent  gold smuggling cases, said the Cochin airport would be the first airport in the country where airport staff and Immigration officials colluded with gold smugglers in their operation. The Customs Department has recently unearthed a racket that smuggled around 2,000 kg of gold through the airport.   What is more worrying is that even after the arrest of 33 persons, including the kingpin of a racket, and seizure of a large quantity of gold, the smugglers are still looking for new routes to illegally slip gold into the State.

 The Customs House, Kochi, has registered the highest number of gold smuggling cases in the State - 122 and 131 cases in the latest two fiscal years, respectively.   When it comes to wildlife poaching and illegal transportation and trade of ivory artifacts, the Forest Department officials have arrested 19 persons so far this year, including three poachers who were responsible for killing around 20 wild elephants. The others were either middlemen or artisans who make artworks out of tusks of elephants, mainly poached from forests in central Kerala.
21/07/15 Dhinesh Kallungal/New Indian Express
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