Bengaluru: In probably a first, customs officials at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) seized 78 banned drones from two men who landed from Singapore last week.Shreekantha (40), a native of Ballari district, and Sabeer Mohamed Rafiq (36), a resident of Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, had hidden the DJI drones in their check-in baggage. Both had smuggled 19 DJI Air 3S worth Rs 1.4 lakh each and 20 DJI Neo drones valued at Rs 35,000 per piece from Singapore’s Changi Airport, officials said. They boarded IndiGo flight 6E 1458 from Singapore and landed at KIA by 10pm on Nov 6.“Both passengers crossed the green channel and were intercepted by officials. Along with the drones, they had 20 refurbished laptops with them,” a customs official told TOI.The drones, officials said, were seized not just because of duty evasion but also because their import into India is banned by law. According to a Feb 2022 notification issued by Union ministry of commerce and industry, import of drones in completely built-up, semi-knocked-down or completely knocked-down form is prohibited. However, govt entities, educational institutions recognised by govt for research and development purposes and defence establishments are exempted, subject to import authorisation from Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).“The import of such a huge number of drones raises concerns as we do not know for what purpose they can be used for. Drones have been seized previously, but not in such numbers,” a senior customs official said.According to customs valuation, the drones alone are valued at Rs 67.2 lakh and the refurbished laptops at Rs 5.2 lakh. Under Customs Act, 1962 (Sections 104 and 135), the market price or value of smuggled or undeclared goods required to make an offence non-bailable should be more than Rs 1 crore.Since individual seizures are valued at less than Rs 50 lakh, an official said the two men cannot be arrested as of now.
