The various reports by Kerala Police suspect Koduvally town as a major hub used by smugglers. It is roughly estimated that around 70% of Gold that is smuggled through Calicut International Airport is handled by various players in the town. Over a period of time the smuggling activities has graduated from an economic offence to serious security threat to country, due to alleged cases of development of nexus between Smugglers and Non-state actors predominantly extremist organisations and violent mafia. It is also alleged that big jewellery brands from Kerala engage in trading smuggled gold by using small bogus outfits as front. Incident On June 30, 2020, acting on an anonymous tip, the Customs officials at Trivandrum International Airport detained a diplomatic baggage from Dubai on suspicion of smuggling. Since the bag came under diplomatic immunity, opening it without following procedures was not possible, especially since a call claiming to be from secretary of the consulate general of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram asked the Customs to release the baggage. On Sunday, July 5, 2020, the bag was opened in the presence of a senior officer from the high commissioner's office in Delhi and the consulate official whose name was on the baggage, to reveal the smuggled gold which weighed around 30 kg. The gold was concealed in baggage consisting of bathroom equipment. Further investigation about the call led the initial inquiry to Swapna Suresh, an ex-UAE consulate employee and state IT department consultant. The Indian officials said that it was first time in history that such a large scale smuggling attempt happened under the name of a foreign nation's diplomatic office. Investigation On 10 July 2020, NIA took up investigation and registered FIR under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the 4 accused viz. Sarith Kumar, Swapna Prabha Suresh, Fazil Fareid, and Sandeep Nair. NIA subsequently arrested more persons connected with the case and seized many incriminating documents. Enforcement Directorate also initiated a probe into the case on the suspicion that the proceeds were used to fund terror activities. However Swapna Suresh, the second accused in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case, was on 5 October granted bail in the case booked by Customs. The accused was given statutory bail by the Economic Offences Court, Ernakulam, as the Customs could not file the final complaint within 60 days of arresting the accused. On 15 October the NIA Special court granted bail