13.24 kg of smuggled gold seized by Air Intelligence Unit

AIU seizes 13.24 kg of gold, electronics worth ₹10.33 crore & foreign currency from 25 people; 7 arrested for smuggling gold beyond limits.

MUMBAI: The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the customs department has seized 13.24 kilograms of smuggled gold and electronic items valued at ₹10.33 crore, along with foreign currency worth ₹45 lakhs, from 25 people including foreign nationals.

HT Image

The agency arrested seven people after gold was found in their possession beyond the permissible quantity. AIU officials said that the gold was in various forms like gold dust, crude jewellery and gold bars, and concealed in ingenious ways in clothes, between layers of paper, and on the body of passengers.

After finding a certain pattern, the agency intercepted five Indian nationals - two were travelling from Dubai, two from Abu Dhabi, and one from Jeddah - at the international airport and arrested them for allegedly smuggling gold into India.

In another operation, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) intercepted two Indian nationals after finding them suspicious and handed them over to the AIU. During a search, two pouches of gold dust in wax were found in their possession. The net weight of the gold was around 1950 grams, which was concealed inside a handbag. Both the suspects, hailing from Muzaffarnagar, UP and Haridwar, Uttarakhand respectively, were arrested.

Besides this, the AIU searched one of the flights based on secret information and found three pouches of gold dust in wax valued ₹1.90 crore, which were concealed in the washroom of the aircraft under the tap water platform.

The AIU also intercepted two foreign nationals who were travelling to Bangkok and were carrying foreign currencies - 7,300 Euros, 2,500 USD, 29,000 Pound Sterling and 12,000 New Zealand Dollars equivalent to 44,76,380 lakhs in Indian currency. The currencies were concealed in special compartments tailored into laptop bags.

In yet another operation, 16 Indian nationals - twelve were travelling from Abu Dhabi, two from Dubai, and one each from Bahrain and Sharjah - were intercepted and found to be carrying 3,431 gram of gold and electronics valued at ₹2.16 crore. These were concealed in baggage, between layers of papers, and in trouser pockets.