Customs seizes 61 kg gold worth ₹32 crore at Mumbai airport

In the first seizure, four flyers from Tanzania were found to be carrying 53 gold bars worth ₹28.17 crore.

The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Customs on Friday seized 61 kg of gold worth ₹32 crore in separate operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. This was the highest value seizure by the department at the airport in a single day, the Customs officials claimed.

Customs seizes 61 kg gold worth ₹32 crore at city airport

In the first seizure, four flyers from Tanzania were found to be carrying 53 gold bars worth ₹28.17 crore. The gold bars were concealed in a specially designed belt, having multiple pockets, wrapped around their torso, as per a release by the Customs.

An interrogation of the accused revealed that the UAE-made gold bars were handed over to them during transit at Doha airport by an unknown Sudanese national, who had not travelled with them on the flight. The suspects were arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

In another operation, 8 kg of gold valued at ₹3.88 crore was seized from three passengers, including two women, who arrived from Dubai. The gold dust in wax form was found ingeniously concealed in the waistline of the jeans worn by the passengers.

One of the suspects was in her late 60s and the other was on a wheelchair. The trio were arrested and remanded to judicial custody, the officials said.

According to the Customs officials, they had recently seized foreign currency of ₹4.08 crore and were continuously analysing the pattern and modus operandi of foreigners and Indians involved in smuggling based on the seizures. “A systematic profiling of suspect passengers was undertaken on sensitive flights from certain places in Africa and Middle East helped us to conduct an operation on Friday,” said the official.