New Delhi, Mar 14 (IANS): The incidences of gold seizure in the country has surged significantly in last few years. In 2022 alone, around 3,502 kg of gold was seized in 3,982 cases related to smuggling of the metal.

In 2020, there were 2,567 such cases in which 2154.58 kg of gold was seized. In 2021, there were 2,445 such cases in which 2383.38 kg of gold was seized.

In the year 2023 (upto February), there were 875 cases in which 916.37 kg of gold have been seized.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, the Union Finance Ministry said on Tuesday that the government makes policy interventions and takes operational measures to check smuggling.

To deter smuggling of gold, Customs field formations and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) keep constant vigil and take operational measures such as passenger profiling, risk based interdiction and targeting of cargo consignments, non-intrusive inspection, rummaging of aircrafts and coordination with other agencies.

Circulars related to new modus or methods used by the gold smugglers are issued from time to time, the ministry said.