Ahmedabad : A new luggage-checking system has been introduced for passengers landing at Ahmedabad airport. Now all passengers, from their big bags to their handbags, have to go through the new checking system, so understand what you, as a passenger, may have to do now while leaving the airport? And how do customs officials catch people illegally carrying gold, drugs, liquor bottles, and gadgets like iPhones and Apple Watches?
The number of flights and passengers at Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport is constantly increasing. The airport is bustling with international flights, especially in the evenings. To control this activity, senior customs officials have started a new experiment. Now baggage screening is being done from all places and for this, a master control room has been set up at a separate place, through which passengers are monitored through more than 50 CCTV cameras, from luggage to customs clearance, and detailed screening of baggage is done.
The immigration department at Ahmedabad airport has also installed a separate machine to check hand bags. Every hand bag is passed through it and if any suspicious item is found, it is checked. Usually, items like drugs, cigarettes, iPhones, Apple Watches, creams and liquor bottles are mostly seized from large bags. Since large bags are screened meticulously, smugglers no longer put gold in large bags. Instead, they bring it in hand bags, by making gold paste or by hiding it somewhere on the body. In some cases, gold has been caught hidden in the screws, wheels, etc. of the bag.
Apart from this, passengers have also been banned from taking luggage to the toilet at the airport. However, as some passengers are carrying luggage inside, the Customs Department has deployed constables to ensure that the rules are followed. Approximately 20 to 22 international flights arrive at Ahmedabad airport daily. About 6,000 bags are screened daily, at an average of two bags per passenger.
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