By Matters India Reporter
Kochi: A Catholic priest is the latest to be caught for gold smuggling in Kerala.
Customs officials on January 23 seized 300 grams of gold from Father Isaac Kizhakkeparambil.
The officials said they found three gold bars, each weighing 100 grams, concealed inside chocolate bars kept inside the 59-year-old priest’s baggage when he landed at Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery near Kochi.
The priest, who has been working in Switzerland for years, came to Kochi on a Qatar Airways flight at 10:30am. “He had not made any declaration; it was an attempt to evade the mandatory 10 percent customs duty,” a senior customs official said. “No arrest has been made as the quantity of the contraband is small. A case has been registered.”
An official told Matters India that the priest raised their suspicion as he was behaving strangely. The officials approached the priest thinking that he was unwell and needed medical help.
Commenting on the latest gold seizure, a veteran journalist, a Catholic, jokingly told Matters India that it was a shame to be caught for such a small amount.
Customs officials at Kerala’s three international airports regularly seize gold illegally brought to India.
The World Gold Council (WGC) estimates that about 175 tons of gold were smuggled into India in 2014. Much of this yellow metal lands in Kerala where the gold industry employs 200,000 people.
With only 3 percent of India’s population, Kerala gobbles up 20 percent of the country’s gold every year. The WGC estimates that India is the world’s largest consumer of gold, consuming 30 percent of the global supply.
Almost all households in Kerala has have gold kept away as savings, either to be given away as wedding gifts for daughters or to raise cash by way of gold loans or outright sale.
Gold smuggling into India has become a huge problem, following the introduction of higher import duties on the precious metal. In January 2012, the import duty in India was set by the previous government at 2 percent, which was then doubled to 4 percent in March that year. A couple more hikes were introduced the following year, so that the import duty reached a record high of 10 percent. This created an incentive for gold to be smuggled into India, to avoid paying the high duties and to reap greater profits.
“Smuggling reared its head again after a gap of about 10 years in the year 2012,” P R Somasundaram, WGC’s India managing director told the National Business.
The Indian law allows its citizen to carry 1 kg gold into the country provided he declares and pays duty.
However, there will be no arrest if the gold seized is of less than 2 million rupees. One can be arrested with bail and later prosecuted if caught with gold worth between 2 million and 10 million. If the amount is more than 10 million rupees the law stipulates arrest without bail and prosecution.