Authorities in Chennai, India, intercepted 2.5kg of gold granules hidden in four containers of instant orange drink, Tang on Monday, May 10, 2021. Courtesy: Chennai Customs
Authorities in Chennai, India, intercepted 2.5kg of gold granules hidden in four containers of instant orange drink, Tang on Monday, May 10, 2021. Courtesy: Chennai Customs
Authorities in Chennai, India, intercepted 2.5kg of gold granules hidden in four containers of instant orange drink, Tang on Monday, May 10, 2021. Courtesy: Chennai Customs
In April, a man took off on a flight from Abu Dhabi with such a thing as too much gold on him. At Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, customs officials seized the portion of his precious metal cargo that the man was carrying under his wig – melted and taped to his head.
He had more on him, totalling 630 grams, though authorities, thankfully, declined to say where else he was hiding it. Nor was this the first case this year of travellers to India having devised extraordinary means to heave excessive, forbidden quantities of gold into the country. The list of failed, albeit resourceful, attempts to skip having to pay customs duties is long, and predictable. It tends to fluctuate far less than the price of gold on any given day.
Others have tried to push gold into the country in mobile phones, in speakers, in Tang juice containers and in the handles of fruit juicers. In the spirit of the pandemic, one even tucked it into the exhalation valve of an N-95 mask. Last month, in a big win for Indian law enforcement, a man was caught with gold bars jammed in to his pocket, having adorned himself with a hefty gold chain, presumably as a poorly thought-out distraction. All the gold together on him was worth more than $74,000 – on top of that, he had $38,000 in cash.
6.7 kgs of gold were concealed inside the handle of a metal fruit juicer. A passenger carried it in his hand luggage on a flight from Dubai to Hyderabad, India, on November 13, 2021. Photo: Hyderabad customs
Part of the problem is that the demand for gold is unusually high in India. In fact, it is the highest in the world – slightly higher than in China and nearly four times higher than the third-ranked country, the US. That's because gold has a clear cultural and religious importance for many Indians. Rare is the compatriot in the UAE who has not, at least once, even if just for the sake of observing the overwhelmingly yellow-tones, headed to the Gold Souk in Dubai, or not bought the token coin or trinket. It is an incredibly popular asset among all sections of society, for investments, as an inheritance for children, as a gift for weddings in the family, or as a marker for occasions in life or for festivals, such as Diwali. Weddings are the big ticket; they generate approximately 50 per cent of annual gold demand in India, according to the World Gold Council.
Of course, the vast majority of Indian travellers to and from the UAE do abide by the law and stick to safe, legal routes of buying gold. But while the flood of demand creates revenue opportunities for the government in the form of customs duties, the sheer volume makes the likelihood of people wanting to skirt the import rules much greater. Finding the right level of taxation is tricky.
Since February of last year, the Indian government cut the tax on imported gold from 12.5 per cent to 10.75 per cent of its value. That cut, however, has not been enough to deter law-breakers. In the case of the man with the wig, it is interesting to consider how many times over the limit he was – India permits its citizens to carry 20 grams of gold for men (worth $654 or Rs50,000) and 40 grams for women, duty-free.
The Gold Souk in Deira, Dubai. Antonie Robertson / The National
Gold jewellery also constitutes a big portion of the bilateral trade between the UAE and India. Last week's Eid celebrations happened to coincide with the Indian spring festival "Akshaya Tritiya", a big auspicious day for jewellers and when some well-to-do Indians buy more gold or start their business ventures. During that time the UAE received its first duty-free imports from India, containing gold and jewellery valued at $1 million.
Given the value of the gold trade for India, smuggling can pose a major problem in the form of lost revenue and using up law-enforcement resources. In the past 11 years, more than 2,500 cases of smuggling have been registered by Delhi Customs, which has seized three tonnes of gold. Other Indian cities, whether Mumbai, Kochi or Chennai, have their own figures. According to The Hindu, an Indian newspaper, about 200 kilograms of gold are seized every year at the Kozhikode airport, in the southern state of Kerala. And in 2019, the WGS said, up to 120 tonnes of gold was smuggled into the country.
Even if customs duties are lowered, however, gold's deeply intimate connection with India's large informal economy will be difficult to cut, meaning that much of it will continue to circulate off the radar to fund off-the-books purchases. Just one example can be found among India's middle-class families, for whom accumulating large amounts of gold over time often depends on procuring it through "family jewellers", long-standing businesses known to mothers and grandmothers and which offer them jewellery at a special rate. Personal relationships with jewellers often go back generations, and to ensure good prices deals are often done under the table, without receipts or tax invoices.
The role of gold in the informal economy is, however, also a double-edged sword. While the tradition of "family jewellers" establishes trust for price negotiations, the fact that transactions are unregulated diminishes, in the bigger picture, trust in the quality of the product. There is a popular belief in pockets of India that foreign gold is purer than that found in the local market. As a result, some people tend to smuggle gold in from outside.
As Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial, a financial services firm, explains: "It is well known that the major flow of gold into India is through the relatives and the network of friends and family." But he debunks the purity myth, saying that gold bought in India can be just as pure.
In Mr Valecha's view, ultimately, the biggest problem is the taxation level. But unless Indian authorities are prepared to lower taxes to the informal economy level – which is to say, down to implausibly no taxes at all – they will face tough competition.
The biog
DOB: March 13, 1987 Place of birth: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but lived in Virginia in the US and raised in Lebanon School: ACS in Lebanon University: BSA in Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut
MSA in Design Entrepreneurship at the School of Visual Arts in New York City Nationality: Lebanese Status: Single Favourite thing to do: I really enjoy cycling, I was a participant in Cycling for Gaza for the second time this year
UAE Conference: Winners– Dubai Tigers; Runners-up – Al Ain Amblers
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Cryopreservation: A timeline
Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
Ovarian tissue surgically removed
Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Most memorable achievement: Leading my first city-wide charity campaign in Toronto holds a special place in my heart. It was for Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women program and showed me the power of how communities can come together in the smallest ways to have such wide impact.
Favourite film: Childhood favourite would be Disney’s Jungle Book and classic favourite Gone With The Wind.
Favourite book: To Kill A Mockingbird for a timeless story on justice and courage and Harry Potters for my love of all things magical.
Favourite quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
Favourite food: Dim sum
Favourite place to travel to: Anywhere with natural beauty, wildlife and awe-inspiring sunsets.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah 5.10pm: Continous 5.45pm: Raging Torrent 6.20pm: West Acre 7pm: Flood Zone 7.40pm: Straight No Chaser 8.15pm: Romantic Warrior 8.50pm: Calandogan 9.30pm: Forever Young