New Delhi: Due to the recent rise in cases of gold smuggling that involve airline crews and ground-handling staff, it has been decided to carry out extensive checks on staff when they are leaving the international airport here.

The move comes after authorities found such staff were involved in 80 cases of gold smuggling reported in past three years, official sources said.

All employees including airlines crew, who have access to the incoming passengers at Indira Gandhi International Airport, need to be checked thoroughly every time they go out of the airport, they said.

The decision was taken at a meeting on Wednesday that was attended by the Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI) along with officials from airlines, immigration, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), customs and Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), they said.

Airlines have been instructed to report any suspicious passengers to the customs authority. Airlines, especially national carrier Air India and Jet Airways that have maximum number of flights from foreign destinations to India, have been told to identify these passengers proactively since they come to know in advance about the gold or other items being carried by them while screening their baggage, the sources said.

Similarly, they can also share information about the passengers — who may not be well off and have been frequently travelling to foreign countries without convincing reasons — with customs officials. It will help to keep gold smuggling in check, the sources said.

“We want close coordination among all the stakeholders be it customs, immigration, CISF, airlines and DIAL to ensure that the IGIA is not used for gold smuggling and other illegal activities.

“It is not only about economic security getting affected by gold smuggling but also national security, which might get compromised by smuggling other things. If people can smuggle gold into the country, they might also bring in FICN [fake Indian currency notes] and narcotics,” an official privy to the meeting’s discussion said.

There has been an unprecedented five-time jump in cases of gold smuggling in 2014-15 over 2012-13. A total of 4,400 cases of gold smuggling were registered in the country during 2014-15. About 4,480kg of the precious metal, valued at about Rs11.2 billion were seized in these cases.

There were 870 cases of gold smuggling registered during 2012-13, with about 400kg of gold, valued at about Rs1 billion, seized.