More Indian Customs cargo corruption revealed

INDIAN authorities have seized over US$280,000 worth of smuggled electronic goods from the air cargo department at Kochi International Airport (India). Cargo Customs officers have been implicated in the illegal shipment.

The seizure was part of a wider operation that also saw over $300,000 of similar goods seized at Chennai Airport.

Silk Airlines shipped the cargo from Singapore.

A man – and eventually four others – was arrested when he tried to claim the goods. He was linked to 20 similar consignments over the last three months. The Customs officers – superintendent K C S Prasanth and preventive officer D S Pillai – were suspended, and another transferred, pending a full inquiry into their part of the illegal operation.

Chennai Airport saw a crackdown on corruption at the cargo Customs department this year, but both it and Cochin are allegedly still considered “easy” entries into India for smugglers.

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