Page 110 - DRI ANNUAL REPORT EBOOK

I. Introduction
DRI on behalf of the Indian Customs, remains firmly committed to the importance of international cooperation - multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral towards the objective of combating cross border crime in all its hues and manifestations. Towards this objective, DRI has in the financial year 2019-2020, participated in ten international enforcement operations under the aegis of World Customs Organisation targeting smuggling of various types of commodities such as Wildlife, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Depleting Substances, Antiques, Drugs, narcotic & psychotropic substances such as Methamphetamine, Tobacco, Currency, and even vehicles involved in misuse of ATA Carnet provisions. In addition, DRI also successfully steered Operation Sesha-III between November and December 2019 for combating smuggling of CITES listed species of timber which was the first ever global Customs enforcement operation sponsored by India.
Recognizing the importance of bilateral cooperation for intelligence and information exchange, DRI also joined hands with US authorities of Food and Drug Administration – Office of the Criminal Investigation (US FDA-OCI) as also Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for jointly carrying out ‘Operation Broadsword’ targeting trafficking of controlled / banned narcotic and Psychoactive substances such as Alprazolam, Tramadol, Ecstasy (MDMA), Zolpidem taking place through the postal route. This intensive operation was successfully executed in the last week of Jan 2020.A bilateral enforcement exercise like Operation Broadsword allowed DRI to closely work with U.S. counterparts so as to share best practices, develop intelligence, better target suspect consignments, consignors and other bad actors at both ends. Such an exercise also has potential for long term capacity building. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence is committed to fighting the menace of drugs and narcotics, and international cooperation with agencies like the U.S. FDA can help itsefforts towards this cause.
II. India’s participation in the Global Enforcement Operations
Details of eighteen significant seizures reported by India while participating in the global enforcement operations during the Financial Year 2019-20 are tabulated as under:
Sl No
Name of Operation
Objective: To counter -
No of cases reported by India
Details of the seizures effected by India
1
Operation Thunderball
Illegal wildlife trade
3
Seizure of 380 birds of foreign origin in Mumbai; 834 Star Tortoises in Kolkata and 590 Star Tortoises in Chennai.
2
Operation Tentacle
Smuggling of currency, diamonds and gold by airline passengers at primary international airports
2
Seizure of 2,15,800 USD; 2,75,000 Canadian Dollars and INR 32,00,000 at Kolkata Airport and seizure of 4,49,000 USD at IGI Airport, New Delhi
76 SMUGGLING IN INDIA REPORT 2019-20