India airports post-immigration xray check purpose?
I've noticed that when arriving into India by air, after immigration, and after the passport stamp check to ensure you really did go through immigration, there is some sort of check where all your cabin baggage is xray'd. This is before you get to baggage claim, and before customs.
Cabin bags are xray'd here, and people walk through a metal detector, but jackets don't have to be taken off, nothing has to be taken out of bags before the xray, no-one seems to pay any attention to if the metal detector goes off or not, and bags which have triggered secondary checks elsewhere due to the amount of computers+cables in them sail through.
This makes me wonder - what is the point of this post-immigration pre-customs xray check of bags, and what are they supposed to be checking for?
Best Answer
It's not about security (which would obviously be way too late), it's about taxes. India has heavy Customs duties and they're trying to catch people bringing in undeclared electronics, alcohol, tobacco, drugs etc, much of which is clearly visible on an X-ray.
India is by no means alone in this: eg. Indonesia and Saudi Arabia X-ray all incoming bags, and eg. Singapore randomly (or not) selects some travellers to have their bags scanned.
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Do airports XRAY your checked luggage?
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA) The TSA uses x-ray machines to screen carry-on items and checked luggage.What happens in immigration check?
Immigration Check At the counter, an officer will be verifying the passenger's passport and visa and might ask a few questions about the end destination. After verification, the passport is stamped with the departure date from India for the ongoing trip.Are bags scanned on arrival India?
Yes, once you check them in and they go off on the conveyor belt, your baggage will be screened by an X-Ray machine and also often with chemical sniffers. If there is any doubt or something suspicious about your bag, a member of security personnel will inspect it by hand.What is customs check at airport?
All passengers coming into India have to pass a customs check. The first step is to complete the customs declaration form given out by the airline before disembarking. Make sure to complete and sign the declaration, and hand it to the immigration officer at the Indian airport.The Science of Airport Security
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Answer 2
jpatokal's answer does not explicitly mention gold and silver- which will be found via x-ray examination.
My understanding is that India tries to reduce the amount of gold/silver imported to reduce the trade deficit. This page (http://nriinformation.com/faq1/questions_2.htm) indicates that the first kilo of gold imported is dutied at 10%; additional gold is dutied at 36.05%. This size of duty will mean some people will try to smuggle the gold in.
I have read in the past that gold smuggling into India is/was a huge thing. The James Bond novel Goldfinger used it as a plot point.
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