Latest news with #ChennaiCustoms
New Indian Express
19-06-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Gold seizures at Chennai airport drop by 50%
After an increasing trend in gold seizures at the airport over the last few years, the trend seems to be reversing. For instance, in 2022-23, Customs had seized around 250kg of gold, which was almost 25% more compared to 2023-24. Gold is usually smuggled into India from UAE and Southeast Asian countries. Officials and those involved in the trade attribute two reasons to the drop — strict checking by Chennai Customs and reduction of gold import duty from 15% to 6% by the union government in July 2024. 'Gold smuggling has become a less lucrative business. The risk to reward ratio has dropped. The incentive for smuggling is the evasion of import duty and with the duty cut, trade margins have reduced,' said a senior official.
New Indian Express
17-06-2025
- New Indian Express
Kanchi NGO trustee among five arrested for African ivory trade
CHENNAI: Chennai Customs (Seaport) on Saturday seized 1.5 kg of African elephant tusks (ivory) from a building in Irungattukkotai near Sriperumbudur and arrested five including the main trustee of an NGO in Kancheepuram district. According to sources, the Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB) of Chennai Customs got secret information about some persons in Kanchipuram district involved in illicit trade of ivory, which is banned under the Wildlife Protection Act. Sources said the Customs received a tip-off that P Muthukumar was selling the ivory to a potential buyer on Saturday at a hideout. Based on information, the Customs sleuths landed at the spot and caught the persons red-handed. The other suspects have been identified as Mohammed Ismayil Mohammed, Shakil Ahmed, NA Azeefullah and Amarnath. They were allegedly the commission agents and middlemen involved in the trade. Muthukumar is a trustee of an NGO which offers courses on tailoring and skill development in the district. The ivory and the suspects were handed over to Tiruvallur District Forest Officer (DFO) who has registered a case a. This is the second ivory racket that Chennai Customs busted in the last two months. In April, a 67-year-old jeweller T Prabhakaran and his son P Diwakar (42) were arrested from KK Nagar for possession and trade of 25 kg of ivory.
New Indian Express
25-04-2025
- New Indian Express
Jeweller, son held in bid to sell ivory
CHENNAI: A 67-year-old jeweller from Chennai and his son were among seven people arrested by the Chennai Customs for trying to sell two pieces of ivory weighing 25kg, worth several crores, on Wednesday evening. The accused were identified as T Prabhakaran, his son P Diwakar (42), a Chennai-based realtor, and five accomplices, sources said. After the arrest, they were handed over to the forest department. Prabhakaran was identified as the proprietor of a jewellery shop on NSC Bose road in North arrest follows an investigation by the special intelligence and investigation branch (SIIB) of Chennai Customs after they received information about the illicit trade of ivory by certain jewellers. The investigation was based on information about the trade flourishing in the state, similar to the trend in Karnataka where the state forest department had in 2022 flagged the involvement of some jewellers dealing with illegal body parts of wildlife, a source familiar with the trade explained. According to sources, Prabhakaran and his accomplices were caught red-handed trying to sell the ivory to a potential buyer at a shopping complex in KK Nagar on Wednesday evening. Authorities faced some stiff resistance from the accomplices of the jeweller as some individuals claiming state government employees tried to step in. The arrests were made under the Wildlife Protection Act, a first for Chennai Customs, sources said. It is unclear if follow-up searches were conducted at the office and residence of the accused. Forest department officials did not respond to calls seeking reply to queries.
