FPJ Impact: 38 frontline customs officers at Mumbai international airport transferred over extortion racket

Mumbai: Stung by a series of The Free Press Journal news reports exposing Airport Customs rampant extortion and corruption racket at the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the Principal Commissioner of Customs office, Mumbai Zone 3, ordered immediate relieving of all the 38 frontline customs officers at the international airport to report back to New Customs House to their respective cadres.

The orders for the abrupt transfers of 27 Airport Customs Superintendents posted at the elite Air Intelligence Unit and Passenger Clearance Group, 7 Airport Customs Officers and 3 head hawaldars were issued by Airport Customs Assistant Commissioner GB Tilve on Thursday evening. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs members had pulled up senior airport customs officers for the rise in cases of extortion and corruption at Mumbai Airport in a meeting last week.

CBI investigation led to an extensive racket of Customs officials

Mumbai airport customs has been plagued with cases of extortion by men in white threatening passengers to book in fake cases of gold and currency smuggling and demanding digital payments by online transfers to Gpay accounts of baggage loaders. CBI had arrested customs superintendent Alok Kumar for digital extortion and booked two other customs superintendent for similar cases. CBI investigation led to an extensive racket of Customs officials and airport baggage loaders accepting digital payments which were later used to make hotel and flight bookings of senior IRS officers posted at the airport. The investigation had named ten baggage loaders, 5 customs hawaldars, 17 customs superintendents and 8 customs officers in the extortion racket. The role of senior IRS officers is also under scrutiny.

Several cases of corruption and harassment by the men in white had led the airport customs commissionerate to launch a 24x7 dedicated helpline for passenger grievances and complaint redressal mechanism monitored by additional customs commissioner and on duty deputy customs commissioner.

Senior airport customs officials remained tight-lipped and refused to talk about the sudden transfers.