Chennai, Sep 14 (IANS): The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and the Customs Department have proposed to step up security at Chennai International Airport as the number of contract staff getting involved in gold smuggling is on the rise.

A senior officer of the DRI at Chennai International Airport told IANS that the number of smuggling cases in which contractual staff are getting involved are on the rise and that the agency has given a proposal to the airport authorities to step up security.

According to the official, installation of container scanners was important as vehicles of catering companies that supply food to the domestic and international flights, as well as vehicles supplying fuel, enter and exit the airport.

He said that it was practically difficult to detect gold being concealed in such vehicles that move in and out of the airport.

It may be recalled that a couple of days ago two contract sanitation staff involved in toilet cleaning were arrested by the DRI while they were trying to smuggle out gold worth Rs 1.5 crore through gate No 9 of Chennai International Airport.

The duo, P Deepak and Pachu Muthu had, according to the Intelligence agencies collected gold from a passenger who had landed from Dubai and were exiting from the airport when they were caught.

The officials said that upon interrogation, the arrested workers said that they would get Rs 15,000 each for the work being done.

Sources in DRI told IANS that the agency along with the Customs Department raised this concern of contract staff and ground handling staff entering into deals with the smuggling syndicates and using loopholes in airport security to smuggle gold out of the airport.

The DRI and Customs Department have suggested that there should be an increase in the number of security personnel who are manning the gates and there must be extra staff to man the gates through which catering and fuel vehicles enter and exit the airport.

It may be recalled that the now defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been trying to revive the organisation and to fund its operations the movement has been using the smuggling route.

A very senior operative of the LTTE, Sabesan was arrested in Chennai in October 2021 in a case related to smuggling of drugs.

He was a high ranking official of the LTTE and during interrogation he revealed that they were trying to revive the movement and to fund it, smuggling was one route they were using.

After the arrest of a few former LTTE operatives including Sabesan and busting of certain drug networks, there were Intelligence reports of the former operatives using gold smuggling to fund their operations.

DRI and the Customs Department are suspecting the involvement of such an organised network behind the smuggling racket and hence requested the CISF to beef up security.