An advanced electronic system has been made operational at five international airports across the country to keep tabs on suspicious passengers and check smuggling.
The Indian Customs Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS), which has been made operational at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru recently, acts as an electronic database of all passengers, crew and other airline staff entering the country, official sources said.
APIS red flags suspicious passengers on the basis of their movement and other parameters and gives a lead to customs officials for follow-up, they said.
It has been developed on the lines of the Electronic Advance Passenger Information System used by Customs and Border Protection officials in the US, the sources said.
APIS was inaugurated in November last year at Indira Gandhi International Airport here. After seeing its success, it was decided by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) under the Finance Ministry to extend the facility to other airports as well, they said.
The system has been developed by the National Informatics Centre with the help of Directorate General of Systems under CBEC.
The system automatically red flags suspected passengers, crew and other airline staff, coming to India. The customs officials then do their check, the sources said.
"So far the system has been generating important inputs and its leads have resulted in apprehension of passengers trying to smuggle in gold and other banned items," a customs official said.
