Kochi: The Customs approached the Ministry of External Affairs for seeking information from the employees of Emirates Airlines owned by the Dubai royal family in connection with the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case. The Customs officials assume that information must be collected from the officials who handled the diplomatic baggage that contained smuggled gold at the airports in UAE.
The involvement of officials is confirmed and it has to be brought to light, the Customs sources told Mathrubhumi. The Customs has the authority to interrogate the flight staff in case anything is smuggled into the country. They have decided to demand an explanation from the officials and to issue a notice if they did not respond.
In order to know who brought the bag containing the gold and who received it, the officials will also request for the CCTV visuals in Dubai airport. Customs officials said that a person cannot simply send a baggage with diplomatic sticker to any country.
The Ministry of External Affairs has granted permission to the Customs to proceed with the investigation. However, it is learnt that the flight company has not responded in this regard.
In a similar case, action was taken against Kyrgyzstan Airlines in 2000. The flight company was banned for helping the smuggling mafia and a huge fine was imposed too.
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