New Delhi: India has seen a whopping 833 kg of gold smuggling worth Rs 405 crore in 2021-22, says a DRI report released by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here on Monday.
Unveiling the Smuggling in India Report 2021-22 on the occasion of the 65th Founding Day celebrations of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Sitharaman flagged the alarming rise in gold smuggling into the country. "If 800 kg of smuggled gold is detected on an average per year, I am sure this is an elephant in the room."
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The report analyses organised smuggling trends, Commercial frauds and International enforcement operations and cooperation. As per the DRI report, after Covid-19 travel restrictions were eased, the country witnessed an alarming rise in gold smuggling incidences. The report reveals that 833.07 kg of gold estimated worth around Rs 405 crore was smuggled in the year 2021-2022.
The report points out a significant shift from the trend noticed in 2019-20 when the largest originating country of smuggled gold was the Middle East. However, in 2020-21 and 2021-22, the report says the largest chunk (37%) of gold seized by the DRI was of Myanmar origin.
According to the report, there has been a sudden surge in smuggling using the courier route. It was earlier that the gold smuggling was done via in-person smuggling but that was disrupted due to Covid-19 imposed lockdowns which halted the air route. The Finance Minister expressed concern about a large number of drugs coming into the country, especially cocaine.
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The year 2021-2022 witnessed DRI seizing 310 kgs of cocaine which is an alarming rise if compared to the previous years. In 2020 and 2019, 8.667 kgs and 1.108 kgs of Cocaine were seized by the concerned agencies.
Similarly, DRI seized nearly 27 MT of cannabis in the year 2021-2022 with Madhya Pradesh, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh leading the front with 5846 kgs, 4264 kgs and 3141 kgs respectively.
Underscoring the need to put an end to smuggling of drugs, the report says that a large quantity of drugs come from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. "Smugglers cannot be smarter than the authorities," Sitharaman said, adding that India needs "global cooperation on drug hauls.
