INDIA CUSTOMS ARRESTS AIR INDIA CABIN CREW FOR SMUGGLING GANJA

A cabin crew member of national- carrier Air India has been arrested by customs officers for allegedly trying to smuggle narcotic by hiding it in a meal service cart of a flight.

customs arrests air india cabin crew for smuggling ganja

The officers seized nearly two kilograms of ganja from the cart of the Air India flight from Chennai on July 19, according to a release issued by the customs department today.

A detailed investigation was carried out and a member of the cabin crew was arrested, it said.

Source: indiatimes.com/

VIETNAM RETURNS TO IMPORT SOME AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS FROM INDIA

VCN- From May 10, 2017, the Indian agricultural products which were suspended from import will be imported into Vietnam again.

viet nam nk tro lai mot so mat hang nong san tu an do
The Indian agricultural products which were suspended from import will be imported into Vietnam again.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has issued Decision No.1644/ QD-BNN-BVTV on continuing to import of high-risk commodities carrying serratus from India. Agricultural products include: Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), Cassiatora (Cassia spp), Cocoa bean (Theobroma cacao), Common Bean (Phaseolus spp) and Tamarind (Tamarindus indica).

The Plant Protection Department notifies the Indian phytosanitary authorities to strengthen phytosanitary to strictly prevent entities subject to phytosanitary in the export goods to Vietnam.

At the same time, strengthening the phytosanitary measures for the above agricultural products from India to ensure that entities subject to the phytosanitary cannot enter Vietnam.

Earlier, on March 1, 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a document No. 558/QD-BNN-BVTV on temporary import of these agricultural products due to the high risk of infection with Caryedon serratus Olivier which can cause a great damage to the agricultural products in stock, cause damage to Goundnuts, Cassiatora, Cocoa bean, Common beans and Tamarind.

By Xuan Thao/ Ngoc Loan

Source: http://customsnews.vn/

CUSTOMS OFFICERS CLEARING CONTAINERS WITHOUT CHECKING AT TUGHLAKABAD (INDIA)

Corrupt Customs officials are allegedly clearing containers at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Tughlakabad (TKD), without scrutiny, thereby putting national security at high risk, according to experts on internal security. ICD comes under Ministry of Finance.

customs officers clearing containers without checking at tughlakabad india
CBI and DRI launched a month-long ‘investigation and examination’ of the containers on 1 March 2016.

Santosh Kumar Jain, a former officer of the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) and an expert on internal security, said: “The Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Tughlakabad, a dry port, has turned into a den of corruption and shady Customs officials are allowing the clearance of containers without examination, thereby compromising national security. There are cases where Customs officials did not examine containers despite being prompted by the Electronic Data Interchange system for 100% examination of containers.”

“Just for earning a few extra bucks, some Customs officials are not only compromising national security, but their activities are leading to huge losses in revenue for the exchequer,” Jain, who has been in several committees formed to curb corruption in inland ports, said.

Evidence accessed by The Sunday Guardian shows that after sensing rampant corruption and illegal trade at the ICD-TKD port, premier investigative agencies in the country, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), launched a month-long “investigation and examination” drive on 1 March 2016, to check all suspicious containers, mostly originating from China, Dubai and Thailand, among other countries.

However, the agencies involved in the investigation have not made their findings public as to whether any unwarranted goods were found during the course of “investigation and examination”, but sources said that banned Indian currencies of higher denominations were found in several containers.

A spokesperson of Karol Bagh Traders Federation (KBTF), on the condition of anonymity, said: “Customs officials have joined hands with several importers involved in illegal trade. These officials have set up a parallel system at the ICD-TKD and have even appointed their own personnel who help them in collecting bribe money during office hours.”

Instead of stopping illegal trade practices, Customs officials are helping the touts, the KBTF spokesperson alleged, adding that these officers even harass importers-exporters not willing to pay bribes.

Despite action against some senior officials, the Customs Department has failed to bring an end to the prevailing corruption at the Inland Container Depot at Tughlakabad or introduce any mechanism to stop the illegal activities.

“In 2015, the CBI had arrested Atul Dixit, Commissioner of Customs at ICD-TKD and Nalin Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Customs, ICD-TKD, for their alleged involvement in a case of fraudulent garments export and dubious transfer of drawback incentives,” the KBTF spokesperson added.

However, Nilank Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Customs, ICD-TKD, denied all allegations of rampant corruption at ICD-TKD.

“I am not aware of any corruption here in ICD-TKD. If any complaint comes, we will take action against those responsible,” he said.

Source: sundayguardianlive.com