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Kathmandu, Aug 14 : Cigarettes are being smuggled from Nepal to Australia via UK via Tribhuvan International Airport.

The mystery of the smuggling was revealed after the Tribhuvan Airport Customs Office seized 32 cartons of cigarettes that were being sent to the UK illegally a week ago.

The Customs Office has formed an investigation committee led by the Deputy Secretary in this regard. Although it is considered common to smuggle cigarettes from Nepal to India and from India to Nepal via land border crossings, the Airport Customs Office has stated that a gang of smugglers is active in illegally sending cigarettes to third countries from the airport.

Dilip Kumar Gautam, Chief Customs Administrator of the Tribhuvan Airport Customs Office, said that cigarettes that were being sent to the UK illegally were seized from DP Nex Courier and Ikima Courier.

According to him, 6 cartons of cigarettes that were being sent by DP Nex and 26 cartons of cigarettes that were being sent by Ikima Courier were seized. ‘32 cartons of cigarettes have been seized, they are being sent to the UK, and a deposit has been sought from the courier operators,’ Gautam said.

He said that vigilance has been taken in checking all goods coming and going through the airport. ‘We have taken precautions and vigilance,’ Gautam said.

After the cigarettes were seized, a 5-member committee has been formed under the leadership of the Deputy Secretary of the Airport Customs Office to investigate. The Customs Office has stated that it will implement the suggestions received from the committee.

Recently, tobacco products such as cigarettes and gutkha have also been illegally transported through Tribhuvan Airport. Smugglers have also been smuggling gold, drugs and other goods through Tribhuvan International Airport.

Unauthorized materials that are being transported to the aircraft by bypassing the airport security and customs systems are seized from time to time. The issue of foreign goods being transported by bypassing the police and customs at international airports is generally less publicized.

Cigarettes are also being transported from Nepal to countries including the UK, Australia and Qatar. Sources claim that smugglers send cigarettes from Nepal to the UK and repack them there before sending them to Australia. The value of the 32 cartons of cigarettes seized is said to be around Rs 13 million.

Old X-ray machines

The customs office at Tribhuvan International Airport has old ‘X-ray’ and ‘walk-through gates’. These old devices do not distinguish between cigarettes or gutkha. Sources claim that illegal goods are repeatedly passed through the same machines after ‘passing the inspection’.

Chief Customs Administrator Gautam says that goods are checked using two X-ray machines. A security meeting is also held at the customs office regarding the repeated passing of prohibited goods through the X-ray machines.

The source said that the customs side claims that such a problem has arisen because the X-ray machine did not show any.

X-ray machines are used to check bags, suitcases, and cargo brought by passengers for illegal or other prohibited items. However, customs officials claim that illegal or prohibited items are smuggled in when the X-ray machines do not detect them. In addition to customs, units such as the Immigration Office, Police, Armed Police Force, and National Investigation Department are active in security at Tribhuvan Airport.

People’s News Monitoring Service