Afghan national detained under COFEPOSA Act

KOCHI: An Afghan national who was intercepted with foreign currency worth `11 crore by the Customs Air Intelligence Unit at the Cochin International Airport has been placed under preventive detention for a year under Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA).
Mohammed Seddiq Yousafi has been detained to avoid him fleeing the country once released on bail.

A team under Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar had intercepted Yousafi at CIAL, Nedumbassery, on June 13, 2018. He had boarded an Air India flight via Kochi to Dubai from New Delhi. However, the passengers had to alight at the Nedumbassery airport after the flight developed a technical snag. The currencies -  Dollars and Saudi Riyal - were detected when the baggage was scanned.

The Customs had request ed to the joint secretary of the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau to issue COFEPOSA against the accused.

“The investigation carried out by the Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch (SIIB), Kochi, revealed the detained person is part of a racket that had possibly smuggled similar amounts on previous several occasions through the New Delhi Airport. Considering the huge amount smuggled out of the country and serious threat to the national security, we moved an application for preventive detention of the accused under COFEPOSA,” Sumit Kumar stated in a release.

Considering the application and based on evidence gathered during the investigation, Joint Secretary to the Government of India decided to place Yousafi under preventive detention for a year under section 3 of COFEPOSA.

“The detention order along with grounds of detention and documents relied on up were served on Yousufi at the Central Prison, Viyyur, on Monday,” Sumit Kumar said.

The Customs Department has also taken up the security lapse at the New Delhi airport, where the Afghan national could have evaded security checking.

The matter regarding the security lapses was informed to the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) authorities.

Once the probe is over, the Customs will approach the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security of India regarding the security loopholes used by the smugglers.