Gold losing shine as smugglers in TN turn to drones, e-cigarettes and electronics

New Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS) From drug cartels to gold smugglers, Tamil Nadu has become a major transit or landing point. The rise in the number of drug-related incidents has gone up tenfold over the last couple of years.

However, in another trend, it has been noticed that the state is also becoming a major hub for drone smuggling. Cases of drones being seized have increased, and in 2024 alone, at least 200 of them worth Rs 200 crore have been seized by the Chennai Air Customs.

Lax security and routes by sea, air and roads have made Tamil Nadu a popular destination for smugglers. In recent months, there has been a major rise in the number of drug smuggling incidents as well. The drug cartels have hired many youth from Tamil Nadu and deployed them in Manipur’s Moreh. Their job is to bring in marijuana from Manipur by rail and ensure that it reaches Tamil Nadu safely.

Once the drugs land in the state, they are taken to Keelakarai in Ramanathapuram. Some of the contraband is taken by jetties to the Tuticorin district. The drugs are then smuggled into Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, the smugglers ensure that the drugs reach Australia. The other drugs that are being smuggled include methamphetamine and cannabis. These drugs first land at the Andhra Pradesh or Odisha border before being taken to Tamil Nadu. From here, a similar route is deployed, and the drugs are then smuggled into Sri Lanka.

Tamil Nadu has also seen a sharp rise in gold and drone smuggling incidents. Last week, the Chennai Customs had busted a gold smuggling racket that involved Sri Lankan transit passengers and a contract staff of the Chennai International Airport. The Customs seized 2.57. kilograms of gold worth Rs 2.5 crore and arrested five persons.

The Customs have remained on high vigil to prevent gold smuggling, as in the month of June this year, the number of such incidents had seen a drop. Investigations found that the smugglers used genuine passengers to bring in the gold. Those returning to Sri Lanka from India are the ones who are being used for this racket. They are paid Rs 10,000 to smuggle 800 grams of gold and a free air ticket, apart from a stay in a foreign country.

With vigilance high, these persons felt that smuggling gold was becoming risky. This is when they turned to drones, wildlife and e-cigarettes, which they found to be more lucrative and less risky.

In 2022, the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry had said that import of drones is completely banned in fully assembled Completely Built-up (CBU) form, fully disassembled Completely Knocked Down (CKD) form, or partially assembled Semi Knocked Down (SKD) form. However, there is an exception provided for Research and Development and security purposes.

If one looks at the numbers in 2020, just nine drones were seized, and the following year, it was three. In 2022, 2023 and 2024-25, the numbers were 29, 30 and 200, which marks a significant rise. The investigations found that these drones, linked to a Chinese company, DJI, are dismantled and concealed in the checked-in baggage. They are then declared as electronics to avoid Customs.

The drones are then assembled and sold in electronic shops. For this, the smugglers have once again relied on genuine passengers. This time around, passengers from Singapore, Malaysia and the UAE have been tapped to smuggle the drones.

--IANS

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