One year on, TIA’s ‘flawed’ state-of-the-art system ends up promoting gold smuggling

The Tribhuvan International Airport Customs Office in Sinamangal is under the leadership of joint-secretary Arun Pokharel who is also the Chief Customs Administrator of the Airport Customs Office. From his strategically-positioned office, which is on the southwest side of the first floor, he can oversee the entire customs area.

To oversee what is going on at the office, he has two large monitors mounted on his office walls displaying live feeds captured by IP cameras . One feed shows him videos of passengers arriving and departing from the airport whereas the second provides a direct view of cargo handling, tracking the movement of goods from the aircraft to the customs cargo building, as well as their entry and exit through the gate. All activities are recorded diligently.