Abhiroop Das
Co-created by Neeraj Pandey and Vipul K. Rawal, Netflix’s ‘Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web,’ also known as ‘Smuggling: The Smuggler’s Web,’ steps into the shoes of Arjun Meena, a customs officer stationed at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai. With rampant smuggling chipping away at the government’s reputation, a specialized team of honest officers is assembled with the single-minded goal of taking down the criminal ring known as the Chaudhary Syndicate. Arjun is one of the many moving parts in this new team, spearheaded by Prakash Kumar. However, with every instance of success against the smugglers, Arjun’s integrity is put to the test, as he has to weigh and choose between his profession and everything he holds dear. In this high-stakes Hindi drama series, the Indian Customs and its rivalry with Chaudhary’s gang take center stage, setting off an elaborate game of chess.
Taskaree Takes a Fictional Look at an Indian Customs Department
While ‘Taskaree’ is set in and around the real-life Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, the story itself is entirely fictional. Co-written by Neeraj Pandey and Vipul K. Rawal, the show dramatizes the many challenges an Indian Customs Office faces on a daily basis, whether it be in the form of smugglers, traffickers, or people evading import and export duties. Pandey, who is also the director, expressed how he had always wanted to explore customs through his works, given how it naturally lends to intense and precise storytelling. In his own words, the show is “rooted in authenticity,” which speaks to the immense amount of research that went into making the show as believable as possible.
A number of visual elements, particularly the airport activities depicted in ‘Taskaree,’ seem to have been partially borrowed from real life, with fictional characters and plot beats adding a creative touch. In particular, the show is full of extended sequences of the characters interacting with various spaces within an airport, and all of this is captured with a sense of realism that only adds to the immersion factor. Alongside this, the story loosely adapts customs officers’ mode of operations, as well as the finer details that go into their jobs. In real life, Indian Customs operates within the Ministry of Finance and is primarily tasked with revenue protection and penalizing those who export illegal goods, as defined by the Indian Customs Act.
In ‘Taskaree,’ customs officers are internationally accompanied by agents of COIN, which stands for Customs Operational Intelligence Network. In keeping with the show’s approach to authenticity, COIN is in fact a real Indian platform that is responsible for checking major international transactions for smuggling, money laundering, and a host of other financial frauds. As such, while the show’s narrative is crafted to a great extent, it continues to draw references from real life, channeling what it is like to be a customs officer. Several customs operations in the show also appear to draw loose parallels to real-life operations and stints, such as Operation Golden Sweep, which was conducted at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International in 2025, and reportedly led to the seizure of 10.5 kg, or 23 pounds of gold, worth approximately ₹12.58 crore, or US$1.39 million.
The Chaudhary Syndicate Was Invented Specifically For the Show
Just like ‘Taskaree’ is a fictitious story, the Chaudhary Syndicate, which serves as the show’s primary antagonistic force, is also a fictional smuggling ring responsible for a global network of crime. Although the syndicate is not modeled after a real-life antecedent, it is likely that the gang is a fictionalized composite meant to represent how smuggling and trafficking groups operate. As per reports, a staggering 4,971.68 kg, or roughly 10,960 pounds of gold, was seized by the authorities in the fiscal year of 2024 alone, which speaks to the large-scale operations of smuggling rackets. According to the FICCI-Cascade study from 2024, the illicit market in sectors such as alcohol, textiles, and apparel was valued at ₹7.9 lakh crore, or approximately US$95 billion.
Over the episodes, the Chaudhary Syndicate becomes the show’s lens into the hidden world of crime, exploring the many ways illegal goods are smuggled into India by plane. While the syndicate’s leader, Bada Chaudhary, is given an extensive backstory, he appears to be crafted entirely from scratch, with no direct parallels to a criminal leader in real life. Within the narrative, his smuggling network extends to a number of countries across the globe, a detail that likely has a vague basis in real life. Still, Chaudhary’s character is an invented presence in the narrative, and actor Sharad Kelkar has confirmed that his performance was driven by the script itself, and not additional homework.
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