28 cases in 2 years of airline staff involved in smuggling: Government data

NEW DELHI: There were a total of 28 incidents of airline employees involved in smuggling of foreign currency, gold and other contraband in the last two years, the government told Parliament today.

However, according to the figures shared by the Centre, these incidents have dropped by 60 per cent in 2016-2017 as compared to the previous year.

As per the data shared by Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla in Rajya Sabha today, there were 20 cases of airline employees involved in smuggling in 2015-2016 and eight instances in 2016-2017.


Low-cost carrier SpiceJet recorded nine cases between 2015 and 2017, Air India saw eight cases, Jet Airways had six and IndiGo one such case.

Foreign carriers Gulf Air, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Virgin Atlantic also recorded a case each in 2015-2016.

Earlier this year, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested a Jet Airways cabin crew member in Delhi for allegedly smuggling forex worth over Rs three crore to Hong Kong.

The government also told Parliament that it takes various steps to prevent these incidents, such as sensitising field staff, issuing alerts and gathering and sharing of intelligence.