Revenue Secretary urges Customs officials to be cautious in the wake of rise in drug haul

PTI, Mar 8, 2022, 8:38 AM IST

Bengaluru: Union Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj on Monday urged the Customs department to be cautious following an increase in drug hauls effected in ports and airports across the country.

Noting that the Customs has also been working relentlessly on intelligence, Bajaj said things like gold, drugs, red-sanders and wildlife have been coming to the borders as reflected in the large number of seizures in the past one year.

“Suddenly all of us are now noticing that drugs, especially heroin, have started coming in a big way and a lot of seizures have been made…,” Bajaj said during the investiture ceremony by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs in Bengaluru.

Asking officials to be cautious, he said, “The change in the geopolitical situation may actually see that we are getting more quantity than what we were getting earlier. So we have to ensure that we pull up our socks and try and stop this menace from happening.” Bajaj’s warning comes in the wake of authorities seizing 3,000 kg of drugs worth Rs 21,000 crore, believed to be from Afghanistan, at the Mundra port in Gujarat’s Kutch district on September 21, 2021.