Indian Airport Deploys Anti - Smuggling Technology

TIN news:   Advanced security technology is coming to New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.
 
India's busiest airport is getting an electronic system which informs officials when suspicious or potentially suspicious passengers are present. Co-developed by the National Informatics Centre and the Finance Ministry's Directorate General of Systems, the APIS (advanced passenger information system) takes its cue from technology of the kind deployed by US-based Customs and Border protection.
 
The advanced passenger information system features a database containing information on everyone arriving at or departing Indira Gandhi International Airport, including passengers, airline workers and aircraft crew members, the PTI (Press Trust of India) reports.

Indian Airport APIS
The Indian airport APIS is partly aimed at driving down India Gandhi's smuggling levels, which have been on the increase in recent months. Movement-based, it automatically alerts security personnel about passengers and others possibly worth keeping an eye on. It is also able to process other data, potentially leading to the capture of criminals and others.
 
According to the PTI, Indira Gandhi has already trialled the advanced passenger information system and these tests went well. "It is an advanced system which will help in facilitation of international passengers coming to the country and enforcement needs of the customs", APIS project manager Sandeep Rawal tells the Economic Times.
Indira Gandhi Smuggling
 
Indira Gandhi International Airport is presently able to handle some 46 million passengers a year. By 2030, it is planned for the hub to be able to handle no less than 100 million passengers and, to this end, a major expansion programme remains ongoing. The opening of Terminal 3 in 2010 was one part of this expansion.
 
Between 2013 and 2014, Indira Gandhi International Airport officials recorded some 360 gold smuggling instances. The most recently reported of these was on 21 November, when at least six kilograms of gold bars were seized during two separate hauls.