Customs seizes smuggled gold worth over ₹1.65 crore from flyer

Customs officials in Mumbai have arrested a man for smuggling 2,935 grams of gold worth ₹1.65 crore into India from Sri Lanka. The accused was intercepted after crossing the green channel and denied carrying any illegal materials. He revealed during interrogation that he obtained the gold from an unknown person on a flight. The agency has requested that the accused be held in judicial custody for further investigation.

Mumbai: The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Customs Department arrested a 28-year-old man for allegedly smuggling in gold into India after seizing 2,935 grams of 24 KT gold worth ₹1.65 crore from him.

HT Image

The accused was identified as Kamal Uddin, who arrived from Colombo (Sri Lanka) by SriLankan Airlines’ flight number UL-143 on Saturday. He was intercepted after crossing the green channel.

The green channel is a route for passengers passing through customs without any customs formalities. It’s for passengers who don’t have items that require a duty payment or prohibited items in their baggage.

The agency was keeping a watchful eye on him and when the accused was asked if he was carrying any dutiable goods, contraband or gold in his baggage or in person, he had allegedly denied carrying any illegal materials, officials said.

Uddin was carrying a sling bag and when officials conducted a personal search, they found 24 karat gold in six pouches of dust in wax total weight of 2,935 grams valued worth ₹1,65 crore in the Indian market. The gold was seized under customs act and during interrogation, it was found that the accused was trying to smuggle the gold in India in a clandestine manner. During further interrogation, Uddin revealed that he got the gold dust from an unknown person in flight number UL-143 on December 30, and had to handover the said gold dust to unknown person who would identify him.

The accused was produced in the court and the agency requested before the court that the investigation is in preliminary stage and the nexus revealed by the accused needs to be verified and corroborated. If the accused is set free, he may flee from the country and would not be available for further investigation which is required to break the bigger nexus involved in the smuggling activities. If he is set free, he may influence and tamper with the evidence related to the smuggling activity so requested the court send the accused to be sent in judicial custody and court send an accused in judicial custody for 14 days.