Gold’s Own Country: A lucrative trade fueled by rival gangs and high demand
Kerala is rather familiar. A carrier, mostly from the United Arab Emirates, agrees to transport the contraband in return for a commission and an air ticket. They WhatsApp their photo just before boarding so that those who are waiting at or near the destination airport to receive the illegal glitter can easily recognise them. Sometimes, that script can take a turn. Scenario 1. The carrier strikes a deal with a different buyer, often a rival gang, changes their shirt before they land to avoid detection and hands the contraband to the new recipient for a higher cut. This is called “busting”. If things get really desperate, the carrier may even get kidnapped.
Scenario 2. This is a riskier activity to throw the Customs off the scent and sneak past the intended recipient. The Customs will get a false tip-off about a carrier, while the gold booty is transported by another passenger. As the word spreads that a carrier has been caught, the intended recipient will lie low for a few days. Meanwhile, the person carrying the gold will deliver it safely to the rival buyer.
In the shadowy world of gold smuggling in Kerala, which intersects with gang rivalry and hawala money transactions, all of these are par for the course. “There have been many such instances of what we call ‘pottikkal’ or busting in Kerala,” says a Customs official in the northern part of the state, who has requested anonymity.
One of the most dramatic instances of busting unravelled in the state in June 2021, when a carrier arrived from Dubai concealing gold
