Tax laws, increase in custom duty blamed for gold smuggling through Jaipur airport

Jaipur: There has been a steep increase in the cases of gold smuggling through Jaipur International Airport. Experts believe that lax laws are one of the reasons for fearlessness among smugglers.

According to the Customs Act 104, if any person is found smuggling gold under worth Rs one crore can get bail on the spot. The case goes to the court only if the gold is worth over Rs 1 crore. 

In most gold smuggling cases reported recently at Jaipur airport, the gold’s value was between Rs 30 – 40 lakhs. So, the accused person got bail from the airport after submitting a security bond.

The government increased the tax on gold eight years ago and it led to an increase in gold smuggling.

A racket of shaddy jewelers and businessman is suspected to be involved in the gold smuggling from foreign countries to India. The group lure employed people by offering them free flight ticket and other incentives.

The customs duty on gold is 10% in India Most of the gold is smuggled from Bangkok and Dubai.

Smugglers make a profit of nearly Rs 3 lakh on the 1 kg smuggled gold.

The customs department officials have caught several people smuggling gold at Jaipur airport in the past two years. The cases have doubled in 2018-19 compared to the previous financial year.

In 2017-2018, around 12 kg of gold was seized by the customs department worth Rs 3.25 crore.  In 2018- 2019, around 20 kg gold worth Rs 6.18 crore was seized by officials.

According to the customs department, smugglers used different ways to smuggle gold from foreign countries to Jaipur over the past year. Some hid the gold in their sandal, hair dryer, suitcases’ handle, headphone, blazer’s button and some in their rectum.