He was caught by Customs officials at Mumbai airport in 2005 but escaped from GT Hospital
He was caught by Customs officials at Mumbai airport in 2005 but escaped from GT Hospital
The Centre has processed a request from the Customs department for extradition of international drug trafficker Keerin Gold, a British national who was arrested in Germany in July, from the United Kingdom. Gold was arrested following a red-corner alert in a drugs case in Mumbai in 2005.
Gold was earlier arrested by Customs officers at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on March 10, 2005, moments before he could board a Swiss Air flight (Alex 155) scheduled for Amsterdam at 11 pm. Gold was held after Labrador sniffer dog Pinky incessantly barked at him.
For Pinky this was no mean feat as Gold’s brown-coloured hand bag had no narcotic substance. But a thorough search of his checked-in suitcase revealed that a concealed cavity in it hid polythene bags containing six slabs of a black substance. A narcotic drug detection kit was used to confirm that the substance was hashish — 12 kg in all. Hashish has high demand in Amsterdam where it is not illegal.
However, on March 13, 2005, Gold escaped from police custody when he was taken to GT Hospital for a medical examination. “Gold sought permission to attend to nature’s call and after locking himself inside the hospital toilet, he escaped through a window. Our efforts to stymie his escape from India failed despite informing the immigration bureau, central industrial security force (CISF), the British consulate general and the police,” a senior Customs official told DNA.
The Nepalese Customs department was also intimated about Gold’s possible attempt to escape from India into that country. However, the accused still managed to escape. The Indian Customs officials later learnt that the British consulate in Nepal had issued a temporary passport valid for three months to Gold on March 29, 2005. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) immediately issued a red corner alert for Gold through the Interpol.
“On July 17, 2008, the Interpol informed us that Gold was arrested in Germany and we started the process for extraditing him. Gold’s extradition should serve as a message for smugglers that the law is going to catch up with them sooner or later, notwithstanding the international boundaries of the globe,” a Customs official said.
He also said that now in addition to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, Gold will also be booked for escaping from police custody.
Meanwhile, the British authorities have written to their Indian counterparts stating that Gold is wanted for similar drug smuggling offences in UK too.
a_renni@dnaindia.net 
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}