Concerned over the burgeoning business of smuggling in the State, the Customs department has initiated a host of measures to enable it to carry out the full spectrum of its operations covering the air and sea routes.
As part of it, Amit Kumar, Commissioner of Customs, Kochi, has kick-started consultations with various airlines, airport operators, and other supporting staff to rein in the smuggling activities. “The objective is to verify the credentials of the staff as also to prepare a list of the suspected frequent flyers, who could double up as carriers for these smuggling syndicates’’, Mr. Kumar explained.
He has already completed the preliminary stakeholder meeting in both Kochi and Kozhikode and is slated to organise one in Thiruvananthapuram in a few days.
Similarly, plans are afoot to install CCTV cameras to monitor the operation of Customs officers at the three airports and the Kochi port, including the cruise terminal. “This will help ensure that no officer from our department as well as in other departments is acting in connivance with these syndicates’’, the Commissioner said.
Meanwhile, the department has launched a training programme in Malayalam for the non-Malayali officers in its fold. The step, according to officers, is vital in local intelligence collection and dealing with the affairs of the State. As many as 37 officers are attending this month-long training programme, being held in association with the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Tax and Narcotics.
Besides language, training is also being imparted in swimming and handling of weapons.
Similarly, the agency will also enhance its public outreach activities through various means, including social media campaigns, to check the rising smuggling activities and creating awareness among the public.
This is to make the public aware of the monetary rewards for providing inputs on the smuggling activities by maintaining the confidentiality of the informer, officials said. A 10 per cent of the interim reward of the total value of the the tax evasion would be given to informers soon after the crime was noticed and the final reward would be given after the conclusion of the proceedings in the case and the reward varies up to 20-30 per cent of the total value, they said.