How 2 Ex-UAE Consulate Staffers Used Diplomatic Baggage To Smuggle 30 KG Gold In Kerala

Among other things, Kerala also has the dubious distinction of being the Hawala Capital of India. It is also the hub of gold smuggling in the country and a large portion of the yellow metal that is illegally brought to the country every year ends in the small state.

Gold smuggling, from the middle east, has been going on in Kerala for decades and it is continuing even on Vande Bharat repatriation flights. Indiatimes had recently reported how smugglers are using desperate evacuees as carriers to smuggle gold.

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But a recent haul of around 30 kg gold, valued at Rs 15 crore, that was seized at Thiruvananthapuram airport has left everyone including officials and the state government stumped.

The gold was sent to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram from Dubai, in what is called a diplomatic consignment, which under normal circumstances are not checked at airports. Like diplomatic privileges, diplomatic baggage too are protected under the Vienna Convention and are not screened at arrival at airports.

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But on Sunday, the local customs officials had a specific tip-off and after obtaining permission from the Ministry of External Affairs, the bag was seized and searched. An individual identified as Sarith, who used to work as the PRO of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram who was at the airport to collect the baggage has apprehended. He along with another former official, identified as Swapna Suresh was the ringleaders of the operation.

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According to reports, Swapna who was fired by the Consulate over misconduct was working as temporary staff at the Kerala Government's IT Department. Sarith who has been arrested has confessed that they used their connections in the Consulate and his previous experience in receiving diplomatic baggage on behalf of his former employers to smuggle gold.

Though it is still unclear how many times they have exploited this privilege, Sarith has confessed that they have been smuggling gold since January.

Swapna who has been fired from her job and is still elusive is emerging as the kingpin in the racket. Swapna who was born and brought up in the Middle East where her father used to work was fluent in several languages including Arabic had returned to Kerala in 2010 and started a tour agency. Her proficiency in the Arabic language made her a regular translator for visiting middle-east delegation and eventually a job at the UAE Consulate in 2016.

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Before that, she had worked at the Air India SATS, Swapna was probed there for giving a fake complaint against an officer to implicate him in a sexual harassment case.

Ever since her role in the gold smuggling surfaced, social media in Kerala has been flooded with her photos with prominent politicians including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. While the opposition used this to corner the government in the case, left-supporters hit back with photos of her with Congress leaders. However, most of the photos that are making rounds are from her days at the UAE Consulate when she was a regular presence at any events there.

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According to reports, the officials got the first input on the gang from another recent case - where prominent south Indian actress Shamna Kasim had alleged that a gang who approached her family with a marriage proposal was trying to extort money from her.

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While probing the case, the cops had come across a gold smuggling gang and a ¡®deal woman¡¯ in Thiruvananthapuram, which officials believe is Swapna.