Tight scrutiny prevents gem smuggling

By Kurulu Kariyakarawana

It was a busy Monday morning at the Bandaranaike International Airport departure lounge. Scores of passengers boun d for various destinations were in queues to attend to formalities. Emigration and Customs officials were on duty.

A Customs official scanning bags noticed one with small bottles that may have contained some kind of lotion. Its not the lotion in bottles that caught attention but certain items similar to pebbles which were mixed in the liquid solution.

The officer wanted his superior to take a look at the X ray visuals. With no proper explanation about the substance the bags were searched.

The bags were taken to a checking surface and the owner was ordered to open and displaytyhe contents.

The officials found three bottles of shampoo in the bag that matched the description of the X ray visuals. Carrying a bottle of shampoo in one's personal baggage is not a suspicious move.

But the officials could not decide on anything until they had to empty all the shampoo into a testing vessel to identify the substance that roused their suspicion.

To get a clear view they splashed water into the thick blobs of shampoo and to their utter amazement pebbles like items turned out to be precious stones in diverse colours. The traveller was immediately taken in for questioning with the contraband.

While they were proceeding with their valuable recovery another officer who took charge of the scanning machine noticed a bag with similar contents. That bag too was searched and two more bottles of shampoo were found.The same procedure was followed with the second batch of shampoo to find more precious and semi precious stones concealed in the bottles.

Sri Lanka Customs officials at the departure lounge thwarted yet another carefully mastered attempt to smuggle gems out of the country.

The seized contraband consisted of 218 stones of various types weighing around 547.8 Carats. The entire haul was later valued at Rs.54 million by the Customs Gem Appraisers, which was a staggering amount compared to the detections of precious stones in the recent past.

Investigations

The initial investigations into the case proved that both passengers were siblings. Although they tried to leave the country for Shanghai on that particular morning with their undeclared fortunes as separate travellers,the authorities tracked them down in no time.

It was revealed that they were sons of a leading gem merchant in Colombo who had been carrying out a legitimate trade for sometime. The Customs inquiry held by its Deputy Director Wimal Liyanagama forfeited the stones and imposed a fine of Rs.100, 000 on the duo.

The smugglers were then freed according to the Customs law the investigations were terminated from that point. This was the fourth case that was reported at the airport for the year and the largest in value and volume.

Smuggling

Smuggling or illicit exports of gems is not new. As gold, currency and narcotics this had been taking place for a long time under the nose of the authorities. Although it is not as much as smuggling gold or currency from the country illegal exports of precious stones is also a punishable offence in Sri Lanka.

Recent surveys by the investigations units of the Department of Customs revealed that people smuggle gems out of the country mostly due to the ignorance of laws and procedures to export legally.

Exporting gems is not illegal under the Sri Lankan law. If someone wants to export gems he/she should produce the item to the National Gem and Jewellery Authority to get it appraised by qualified appraisers.

The government appraisers will weigh the stones and value them. When appraising gems its type, size, weight, colour and composition are looked into.

The stones are checked whether they are polished or uncut stones. The price will vary accordingly.

Once the appraisal is done the exporter can fill and submit a Cusdec (Customs Declaration Form) including the details of the gems to be exported through legitimate channels. There is no tax for exporting precious stones except for the documentation fee.

But many people tend to avoid this procedure due to lack of awareness or with the aim to make profits.

The most common types of gems that were seized in the past are Blue Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, Garnet and Tourmaline (Thora Malli). The Customs officials understood that there is a high tendency for traders to smuggle these types illegally, perhaps due to the high prices they get.

Explaining on this Customs Spokesman Director Leslie Gamini said people try to avoid legitimate channels in exporting gem and jewellery for various reasons. If a person gets away smuggling precious stones out of the country, that person may return with a large sum of money without having to explain his source of income.

Some may sell precious stones and buy other goods which they do not need to declare. By doing so they could evade taxes. Those who do this frequently could operate unnoticed by tax officials and the flow of foreign currency could not be monitored. However, this is not the most important fact. Precious stones are not an illegal item like narcotics or undeclared currency.

It is not required to be concealed and taken out of the country. Those who are engaged in the legitimate gem industry do not require to smuggle their precious or semi precious stones out of the country. A passenger could carry precious stones with him or her if that person could prove beyond reasonable doubt that they were part of the jewellery they wear or a gift for someone. Customs officials can ascertain whether a person is carrying gems for his personal use or for commercial purpose.

Those who take them for commercial purposes should declare them to the authorities. Undeclared goods taken into custody will be forfeited. The posseser has to face a penalty. Smugglers have used various methods to take precious stones out of the country in the recent history. Some of the popular ways had been identified by the law enforcement authorities who will keep a watchful eye to detect a suspicious attempt.

Concealing gems in bags in false bottoms and linings, mixed with cosmetic lotions, concealing in various parts of the body and swallowing them are some of the ways of smuggling gems. The sensitive X ray scanners could locate suspicious items.