Context:
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) released ‘Smuggling in India’ report 2023-24
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI):
- Formation: Established on December 4, 1957.
- Parent Agency: Operates under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Genesis: The origins of DRI can be traced back to 1953 with the formation of the Central Revenue Intelligence Board (CRIB), which dealt with anti-smuggling and anti-corruption in Customs and Central Excise.
Functions and Responsibilities:
- Anti-Smuggling Operations: DRI is the apex anti-smuggling agency in India, responsible for preventing the smuggling of contraband such as firearms, gold, narcotics, fake Indian currency notes, antiques, wildlife, and environmental products.
- Economic Security: Works to secure India’s national and economic security by preventing black money proliferation, trade-based money laundering, and commercial frauds.
- Intelligence Gathering: Collects and studies information on smuggling activities and deploys anti-smuggling resources at the national level.
- Training: Provides training for intelligence and investigation officers of the Custom Houses and Central Excise Collectorates.
Other initiatives to control smuggling:
- Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, targeting drug trafficking.
- Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Amendment Rules, 2023.
- Wild Life Crime Control Bureau.
Read more about Golden Triangle | Golden Crescent | United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Source: Deccan Herald
Previous Year Question
Consider the following statements: (2019)
1. The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) has a ‘Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air’
2. The UNCAC is the ever-first legally binding global anti-corruption instrument.
3. A highlight of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) is the inclusion of a specific chapter aimed at returning assets to their rightful owners from whom they had been taken illicitly.
4. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is mandated by its member States to assist in the implementation of both UNCAC and UNTOC.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2019 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer: (c)
Explanation:
Statement 1 is not correct: The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) does not cover the aspect of Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air’.
Statement 3 is not correct: The General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and two of its supplementary Protocols namely: The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea. This convention does not cover the aspect of asset return to rightful owners.