Customs dept uses ‘Passenger Profiling’ to counter smuggling at Surat Airport

Surat: In an attempt to thwart smuggling attempts from Surat Airport which is nearing transformation into an international airport, the customs department now heavily rely on ‘passenger profiling’, a method to identify potential suspects even before their arrival at the airport.

This technique allows officials to single out individuals of interest and apprehend them within minutes of their arrival and departure from the airport. During the profiling process, the department collects various information about passengers while they are in the air.

While there is currently only one international flight connecting the Diamond City to Sharjah, customs and the DRI have foiled multiple attempts to smuggle gold in joint operations. If the number of international flights increases, these smuggling attempts might also increase.

“In most cases, basic details of every passenger is available for scrutiny. Upon identifying a few suspects, we dig for more information about them,” explained an official. This method, combined with various resources, enables officials to construct a profile of passengers who may be involved in smuggling. Once a profile is established, customs officials closely monitor the passengers upon their disembarkation and conduct thorough inspections.

“In most cases, profiling helps us identify the suspects, and we successfully recover valuables. Thanks to this system, Surat Airport has gradually become a less attractive destination for smuggling prohibited products, resulting in a significant decline in such attempts,” noted an official.

In July, the DRI and customs intercepted 42 kg of gold valued at Rs 25 crore brought by three passengers from Sharjah. Additionally, a police sub-inspector was arrested for his alleged involvement in the smuggling operation. DeshGujarat