Smugglers view their trade as a risky game of success and failure, constantly devising new ways to deceive customs officials. A recent incident at Kannur International Airport exposed one such method: a man arriving from Sharjah had concealed 1223 grams of gold, valued at Rs 87 lakhs, inside a polythene pouch shaped like a passport, tucked into his pants pocket.
Kannur Airport has encountered various creative smuggling techniques in the past, including hiding gold in chocolate covers and wearing gold-coated pants. Every time, they adapt new methods to escape the customs haul.
In Kerala, almost every second day, newspapers carry smuggling incidents. Drug smuggling is another threat the country faces, especially in Kerala. If gold smuggling is detrimental to the country’s economy, the drug trafficking jeopardizes generations; it kills the youths’ mental and physical health. Drug smugglers adapt the latest methodologies, too. One of them is to swallow the polythene pouch filled with crores of rupees worth of drugs. If the pouch is broken, the carrier’s death is inevitable. Still, they do it for the sake of easy and quick money. African women are playing this game of death. But, the ultimate beneficiaries are the terror groups operating here. It is good news that the Union Government agencies are taking this matter very seriously.
