On December 9, Egyptian national Sherif Mohamed Lasin flew into the Tribhuvan International Airport on a Fly Dubai flight with six kilograms of gold hidden inside his jacket. He smoothly passed through the immigration and customs checks despite carrying illegal gold.
Surprisingly, the airport’s walk-through security did not detect him.
“He was walking funny and had put on his clothes awkwardly. The only duty officers felt something was wrong and he was pulled aside and checked thoroughly,” says DIG Arjun Chand, Chief of Airport Security.
Lasin did not know why he was being checked. He did not speak English which made it hard for the police to question him. But upon checking him, police found the illegal goal in a semi-solid form hidden inside his jacket.
The effectiveness of Nepal’s airport security has faced continuous scrutiny. On December 23, 2022, 27-year-old Sudanese national Mohamed Ahmed Dafalla Sarafieldan smuggled 19 kilograms of illegal gold into Nepal. When he walked in with the gold, he too was undetected at the walk-through gate. Once again airport security found something odd after which he was arrested with illegal gold.
Similarly, on February 1, customs officials confiscated 9.135 kilograms of gold, wrapped in plastic, from Mohamed Kamal Mahgoub. His activities had raised suspicion, leading to an inspection at the airport. Surprisingly, he also successfully bypassed detection during the airport’s walk-through security.
“The airport’s structure and security mechanism are designed in a such way that allows illegal gold to pass through easily. We rely on luck and the grace of god to catch gold smugglers at the TIA,” said an employee of the Customs Department asking to remain anonymous.
Rajendra Singh Bhandari, former AIG of Nepal Police, shares the same viewpoint. This raises an ongoing question: How are gold smugglers consistently managing to evade security checks at the airport?
The recent incident
Last week’s incidents have highlighted the airport’s poor security measures. On December 7, Chandra Ghale of Gorkha brought with him 14 kilograms of gold on a Fly Dubai flight. He screened and was subsequently arrested based on a tip. When questioned, Ghale argued that he was solely a carrier, directed to place the illegal gold in the airport’s restroom dustbin.
“Recent developments show that gold smuggling has become normal in the country. The lack of structure and security measures will always encourage smuggling,” Bhandari says. “Gold smugglers are only caught when a trap is set inside the airport.”
Police’s preliminary investigations say a lot of planning went into smuggling such a quantity of gold. The mastermind behind the plan, however, is still unknown.
Ghaley was arrested inside the plane after customs officials received a tip about him smuggling gold into Nepal. Min Bahadur Ghale, who allegedly recruited him to transport gold, has also been arrested.
Investigations have revealed that Chandra Ghale visited Dubai five times in 2023 alone. This discovery suggests the existence of a significant racket, prompting ongoing efforts in their investigative pursuits.
How are smugglers caught?
Former AIG Basant Lama, who also was a member of the high-level gold committee established by the government in 2017, notes that in the past, the reward money for informants was comparatively less than it is in recent times.
“Informants did not want to disclose information at such a modest reward,” says Lama. “That is why we have not seen many cases until now.”
Through amendments to the customs regulations, the government introduced a provision stating that, in cases related to gold, silver, or jewellery, individuals providing information about smugglers will receive 10 per cent of the sale amount or Rs1 million, whichever is lower.
“That meant the money they were getting was quite low for the risks they take. That is why they stopped helping the police,” says Lama.
This, however, has changed. The government amended the regulations after which informants are now assured of receiving 10 per cent of the selling price.
“This is why we now see so many cases of gold smuggling coming out in the public,” says Lama.
SSP Somendra Singh Rathore of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office says that gold smuggling will persist as long as there is a substantial disparity between market demand and legal supply.
“Given that India serves as a main destination for a substantial volume of illegal gold, the policies in place there also have an impact on smuggling activities here,” Rathore told Onlinekhabar. “However, in recent times, there has been a surge in the number of tips related to gold smuggling, attributable to various factors, including adjustments in the remuneration provided to informants.”
The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office made another significant seizure on December 8, confiscating two kilograms of illegal gold at Nagadhunga. Rathore said that three individuals were arrested, based on informant information, as they were transporting the gold concealed inside an SUV.
Furthermore, on December 6, it also conducted a raid on a gold shop in New Road, resulting in the seizure of nearly eight kilograms of illegal gold. Police revealed that Padam Prasad Pandey, the owner of Ompal Gold Shop, was allegedly selling an additional 10 kg of illegal gold, despite having only one kg from legitimate sources.
“This shop is registered but the has been selling products made through illegal gold,” says Rathore.
Last week alone, 30.3 kg of illegal gold was confiscated in the Kathmandu Valley.
Never-ending investigations
On July 18, the Department of Revenue Investigations seized 60 kilograms of gold that had been brought to Nepal concealed in brake shoes.
Similarly, amid suspicions of political involvement in the case of the nine kilograms of gold smuggled through electronic cigarettes (Vape), a decision was made to establish a high-level probe commission.
However, as the commission was being formed, 11 kilograms of illegal gold were seized in the Lama Bagar area of Dolakha. In the process of filing charges, the police submitted a report, concluding that the same group had previously smuggled a total of 33 kilograms.
A high-level commission, led by former high court judge Dilli Raj Acharya, is currently recording statements from the accused. However, despite these efforts, the smuggling of gold through the airport has not stopped.
We have been here before. In 2017, the killing of carrier Sanam Shakya gave birth to the 33-kilogram gold smuggling case. Shakya was killed after the illegal gold was lost. At that time too, the government formed a high-level probe commission under the leadership of Home Ministry’s Joint Secretary Ishwar Paudel.
Despite the commission’s report raising serious concerns about airport security, the government neither disclosed it to the public nor implemented the recommendations.
Currently, another commission is probing the gold smuggling case, and gold seizures continue to occur regularly.
Dilli Ram Acharya, the head of the commission, who recently conducted an on-site inspection of the international airport and the northern border says the airport security system is poor.
“It is no doubt vulnerable to these types of incidents. substantial efforts are needed to address and rectify these issues,” he says.
Acharya expresses astonishment that the smuggled gold is not only bypassing detection through the walk-through at Tribhuvan International Airport but is effortlessly infiltrating all entry and exit points throughout the airport.
“They are using old ways to smuggle gold through the airport. This cannot be done without inside help,” he says. “We need to change a lot of things to ensure incidents like these don’t happen and illegal gold cannot be brought into the country with this ease.”
The post Airport security struggles as illegal gold smuggling persists appeared first on OnlineKhabar English News.
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