Customs officer suspended for “collaboration” with gold smugglers

A superintendent of customs and excise department in Surat has been suspended under a vigilance probe for allegedly “collaborating” with gold smugglers. The accused officer, Preeti Arya, has been posted at Surat International Airport.

In the first week of June, the department received information that three women on board a flight from Mumbai to Sharjah, discreetly carrying gold paste, would land in Surat. Officials said Arya was off duty that day.

The officers detained the three and took them for questioning. During the inspection, over 1,400 g of gold paste was found in their clothes.

During interrogation, the three revealed that they were in touch with a customs officer posted at Surat airport who was helping them in their operations and she was off duty that day. The department later learned that the officer – their superintendent Arya – had been “handling” gold smugglers.

Sources said a departmental inquiry was initiated against Arya, following which she was suspended. A senior customs official said, “Preeti Arya was suspended on the orders of the state chief of Customs and Excise Department after her links with women smugglers were exposed.”

Sources also said that Arya was working at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad before being posted in Surat.

First upload: 2024-06-27 00:55 EST