Hyderabad turns hawala hub

Hyderabad: Customs officials suspect that the gold smugglers from Kasaragod, who were apprehended at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport this month, are part of an organised hawala gang operating in northern Kerala. While Customs officials said that the investigation of these cases had been handed over to the Director of Revenue Intelligence, Kasaragod, district police officials said that the hawala gang, including jewellers, operated with their counterparts in Dubai and other Gulf countries, and gold smuggling was their major activity. “When we interrogated them, they gave vague information about the property’s origin and purpose of smuggling. Some of them said they were personal assets while some said they had brought it for traders in Hyderabad. However, when we verified, the information turned out to be entirely false. Their advanced modus -operandi shows that they are not common passengers trying to smuggle gold for personal purposes. One of the passengers was found to be shuttling between Gulf countries and India frequently in the last one month,” said a senior Customs official, adding that the smuggler must be a part of the organised gang.
A Kerala police official said that one of the important channels through which Gulf money was reaching Kerala was through hawala. Many migrant workers and people working in unorganised sectors depend on hawala as they can save some money by evading international money transfer charges. Organised gangs in Gulf countries collect the money, convert it into gold, smuggle it, and distribute it through their local counterparts in the state.
Kasaragod district superintendent of police, Thomson Jose, said that such gangs were active in the district. “Jewellers are also part of these gangs and majority of the smuggled gold is bought by them. The money is later distributed through local channels. It is very difficult to trace the gangs since they are professionals. Sometimes, we catch a few through informants and vehicle checking, however, we have to hand them over to I-T officials for further action,” he said.
He also said that the disposal of smuggled gold in the district was highly covert. One of the Kasaragod natives hid the gold by converting it into wires coated with  aluminium and replaced the metal wire at the edges of a trolley bag; another passenger hid the aluminum-coated gold wires inside 12 bras. Both were caught at the RGI Airport during security check. Officials said the gold was converted into wires and other objects with the help of professionals. If the gold is successfully smuggled, the jewellers in Kerala convert it into ornaments.