Kannur Gold Smuggling Case: How Much Can Smugglers Make With 1 kg of Gold?

A flight attendant was recently arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle nearly 1 kg of gold from Muscat to Kannur.

According to the DRI, Surabhi Khatun, an Air India flight attendant from Kolkata, was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly one kilogram of gold from Muscat to Kannur by concealing it in her rectum.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

While Crew, starring Tabu, Kareena Kapoor, and Kriti Sanon, continues to top the charts on Netflix, a real-life air hostess has been arrested by Indian intelligence officials for smuggling 1 kg of gold concealed in her rectum.

In the movie, the three desperate flight attendants resort to high-flying gold smuggling out of India to keep their careers afloat. In contrast, in real life, the air hostess was caught smuggling gold from Dubai to Kerala.

According to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), as reported by the Press Trust of India, Surabhi Khatun, an Air India flight attendant from Kolkata, was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly one kilogram of gold from Muscat to Kannur by concealing it in her rectum. She was remanded to judicial custody on Thursday.

Additionally, on Friday, the DRI arrested Suhail Thanalot, a senior crew member of Air India and a native of Thillenkeri in the Kannur district, based on intelligence and evidence indicating his involvement in the gold smuggling incident.

2,531 kg of Gold Seized

Frequent seizures of smuggled gold have made airports in Kerala infamous. According to a document presented in the Lok Sabha in February 2023, approximately 491 kg of smuggled gold was seized at Calicut, Cochin, and Thiruvananthapuram airports in Kerala between 2022–23 (up to February 2023). Out of this, 291 kg was seized at Calicut airport.

In 2019–20, a little over 500 kg of gold was seized at Calicut, Cochin, and Thiruvananthapuram airports in Kerala. Of this amount, 261 kg were seized at Calicut airport. In 2020–21, only 252 kg of gold was seized at these three airports, a dip attributed to the halt in air travel due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

However, out of the 252 kg seized, 146 kg was confiscated at Calicut airport. In 2021-22, around 300 kg of gold was seized at the three airports, with Calicut airport once again topping the list with 204 kg seized.

Calicut airport, in northern Kerala, is particularly known as a hotspot for gold smuggling. The small town of Koduvally, near Kozhikode city in Kerala, became infamous as a centre of illicit gold trading and has hundreds of gold extractors. In 2017, a 400-metre stretch of National Highway 766 in Koduvally, which runs through the town and onwards to Karnataka, was home to 89 jewellery shops.

Between them, they provided for the livelihood of 1,400 families in the town which has a population of just under 54,000. Intelligence officials estimated that at least a thousand residents were involved in laundering money on behalf of gold mafias, often through investment in real estate.

Interestingly, according to the parliamentary document, the number of cases involving airport staff and airline crew in gold smuggling nearly doubled in 2022–23 compared to 2019–20. In 2019–20, there were 15 cases involving airport staff and airline crew, resulting in the seizure of 58 kg of gold and 22 arrests. In 2022–23, this increased to 29 cases, with around 81 kg of gold being seized and 29 arrests.

Other than in 2020–21 and 2021–22, where the quantities of gold seized at Indian airports were 1,000 kg and 1,239 kg, respectively, the quantities seized in 2019–20 and 2022–23 (up to February) were 2,629 kg and 2,531 kg, respectively.

From Africa to India Via Dubai

Gold from various regions of Africa, transported by individual couriers, typically travels to Dubai, facilitated by the presence of airports in those areas. Couriers often hand-carry parcels of around 10 kilograms each. The cost of flight charges is usually less than $500, equivalent to approximately the value of 10 to 12 grams of gold. In the UAE, customs authorities tend to adopt a lenient attitude.

Upon arrival, couriers declare their gold to customs, with no tax imposed. They fill out and sign a gold import form, which includes a self-reported claim about the gold's country of origin, although it remains unverified. Subsequently, the gold is commonly sold in Dubai's gold souks. Many Indians, particularly Keralites, purchase this gold and smuggle it back to Kerala through airports and land routes.

How is it Smuggled?

In addition to involving cabin crew and airport staff, there are numerous other methods used to smuggle gold into India. Primarily, the illicit gold trade heavily relies on the courier services of mostly low-paid migrant labourers from rural India who work in the Gulf. Smuggling syndicates target financially vulnerable workers.

These criminal syndicates operate in small cells, with the courier typically only meeting the person who provides them with the gold in Dubai and possibly the recipient upon delivery. The courier is then instructed to call a specific cell number after clearing customs in India. If, for any reason, the courier is apprehended and fails to make the agreed-upon call, the SIM card is destroyed, preventing the police from tracing other syndicate members.

Even if a courier is apprehended, the likelihood of conviction is low. If someone is arrested, the most severe action the police can take is to confiscate their passport and detain them for a maximum of 60 days. Following their release, a courier can simply return to their hometown, apply for a new passport, and evade their trial altogether.

Gold smuggling networks in and around Dubai reportedly offer Rs 50,000 and a return ticket to home for couriers. These smugglers are more sophisticated than Indian customs preventive officers, consistently staying a step ahead. Some flats in Dubai even have metal detector doors to train carriers to walk normally while carrying gold, often concealed in the body. If not hidden in the body, carriers are often unaware of the location of the gold in their baggage. Consequently, when intercepted by Indian customs, even the carrier is often surprised.

Furthermore, gold is concealed in various items, such as washing machines and laptops, with the normal circuitry sometimes replaced with gold. Laptops with gold circuits have become a recent trend. Additionally, gold is mixed with substances like oats, making it difficult for experienced goldsmiths to detect upon arrival. If undetected upon entry, the gold will be extracted from these remodelled forms.

How Much Do Smugglers Pocket?

Gold is smuggled into India, especially Kerala, to evade taxes and use the yellow metal as a form of currency. To import gold or silver legally, you must pay a 10 percent Basic Customs Duty (BCD) and a 5 percent Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess.

The price of one kilogram of 24-karat gold is around Rs 62 lakh in Dubai. Assuming you bring one kilogram of gold to India legally, you would have to pay a 15 percent duty, amounting to Rs 9,30,000.

However, if you manage to smuggle 1 kg of gold from Dubai to India, as Surabhi and others do, you save Rs 9,30,000. Interestingly, much of the domestic gold in India is not close to 24-karat. Smugglers know that Indians prefer to buy the best gold available, regardless of its source, which tempts traffickers to take the risk of smuggling gold.

If 2,531 kilograms of smuggled gold (between February 2022 and February 2023) through airports were left unseized, the traffickers would have pocketed 235 crores.

How Much Gold is Legal?

Indians who have been residing abroad for over a year can bring in gold ornaments worth up to Rs 50,000 without incurring any tax if they are male and up to Rs 1,00,000 if they are female. If someone wishes to import gold bars (other than tola bars) or gold coins, they must pay a tax of Rs 300 per 10 grams. However, if the gold is in tola bars, the tax increases to Rs 750 per 10 grams.

It's important to note that the duty must be paid in convertible foreign currency, and the quantity of gold imported in any form should not exceed ten kilograms per passenger. The gold must either be carried by the passenger upon arrival in India or imported within 15 days of their arrival.

In 2022, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) upped the threshold for launching prosecution and arrest to ₹50 lakh in cases of smuggling and Rs 2 crore in cases of duty evasion. Earlier, these limits were ₹20 lakh and ₹1 crore, respectively. According to a circular issued by CBIC, in cases related to baggage and outright smuggling, prosecution will be launched if the market value of the goods involved is Rs 50 lakh or more.

The same limit will be applicable in the case of high-value goods such as precious metals, restricted items, prohibited items, or foreign currency. An arrest can be made accordingly.

What Happens To Seized Gold?

The seized gold (other than ornaments, jewellery, and articles) will be transferred to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL).

SPMCIL has the facility to melt gold at India Government Mints (IG Mint), located in Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai. IG Mints will carry out processes such as pre-melting, assaying, and weighing in the presence of a customs officer.

At IG Mint, the gold will be converted into standard gold bars, weighing around 11–13 kg. The SPMCIL will deliver the standard gold bars to the RBI Issue Department in Mumbai within one month of the collection of seized gold.

(Rejimon Kuttappan is an independent journalist, labour migration specialist and author of Undocumented [Penguin 2021]. This is an opinion-explainer piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)