His earnings as an immigration assistant at the Cochin International Airport Limited since 2012 come up to a relatively modest Rs. 6.5 lakh.

But, Jibin K. Basheer, the civil police officer who was arrested along with his father and brother for allegedly smuggling about 1,500 kg of gold, was never quite bothered about his salary. For, his commission for being the key facilitator of gold smuggling through CIAL was several hundred times more than his government salary.

“Our preliminary investigation revealed that his total salary for the last three years from July 2012 to April 2015 was Rs. 8.5 lakh. After deductions, it came to Rs. 6.5 lakh only. Jibin was under our scanner right from the moment he was accused of having close links with the Muvattupuzha-based gold smuggling racket,” a senior Vigilance official told The Hindu on Friday.

A civil police officer attached to the Kerala Armed Police Battalion (KAP) at Thrissur, Jibin joined the emigration wing at CIAL three years ago. Customs officials, who had cracked down the illegal smuggling racket, found that Jibin had the backing of a few close to the political circles and it helped him gain entry into the airport’s emigration wing.

Jibin amassed assets including palatial houses and luxury cars, and invested in real estate with the nearly Rs. 8-crore commission he earned through gold smuggling since 2012. So it was not surprising when a Vigilance team led by its SP K.M. Tomy found crucial documents related to his investments when they raided four of his properties at Muvattupuzha on Friday morning. It included his plush residence, a 1300-sq. ft home built in 2011, another house in the name of his mother and, a property housing a plastic agency unit in the name of his brother.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption wing will continue its probe and may even interrogate Jibin in the coming days as part of the inquiry into the amassment of assets disproportionate to known sources of income.