Andhra Pradesh: Amaravati a hub for smugglers

Vijayawada: Amaravati, which is becoming the go-to place for heritage, tourism and everything spanking new as well, is becoming a hub for smugglers, with gold being imported in and around Vijayawada.

The Central Customs department busted seven smuggling cases, of which three involved gold being transported to or via Vijayawada. Customs officials arrested four persons from Vijayawada and other towns nearby and  seized gold biscuits worth nearly Rs 1 crore.

Vijayawada is one of the important markets for gold trade in the state  and there are large number of traders who import gold from Mumbai and sell to other  traders in nearby districts. It is also learnt that jewellery makers in AP and TN are  encouraging smuggling to avoid import duty.

“With the Customs Commissionerate working from Vijayawada, its officials tend to train their eyes more on this area. Besides, there is also an increase in smuggling activity in the  capital region,” said AP commissioner of customs S. Khader Rahman.

Foreign cigarette smuggling is also rampant in the city, this becoming a challenge for customs officials of Vijayawada and Guntur, who have been  frequently raiding stores and godowns to catch culprits of illegal hoarding, an exercise that has needed the cooperation of the local police, intelligence bureau and all other departments concerned.

In both the cases, though the products are not banned in India,  smugglers avoid paying customs duty to save profit of about 7 per cent.

In two other cases of smuggling, several carriers were arrested at  Anakapalli railway station, while in yet another two, the carriers belonged to Tamil Nadu state.

Even smugglers have insurance cover
Customs officials dealing with smuggling have been shocked to find that the financiers behind the activity are insuring the transaction of valuables between agent and jeweller or end user.

Even after taking utmost care in smuggling gold by hiding it in inner  garments, packets of mehndi, insoles of sandals, in water purifier granules, date seeds and  electronic gadgets to dupe officials at the airport, smugglers do not want to take the risk of losing the  booty. They pay 2 per cent of the market value of the goods to the insurance company.

Dubai-based smugglers have been providing transaction-wise insurance cover for to the smuggling activity in the country. Once insured and if caught by Customs or any other government authorities in the country, the secret insurance companies have to pay the entire value of the booty to  the customer.

A smuggler needs to show newspaper clippings of stories published  regarding seizures of the smuggled goods to claim the amount.
However, it's the carriers, who are mostly women and people from the poorer sections, who get the punishment for smuggling goods.

They earn less than Rs 10,000 per transaction. The Economic Offences court in Hyderabad remanded an accused, who was arrested on Tuesday, to two weeks in jail.