Gold, diamond, Rolex watch worth ₹3.12 crore seized at airport, three arrested
Customs seized gold, diamonds, and a Rolex worth ₹3.12 crore at Mumbai airport, arresting three passengers for smuggling from Dubai and Hong Kong.
Mumbai: The Customs Department seized gold, diamonds and a Rolex watch, in all worth ₹3.12 crore at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in two separate cases and arrested three passengers involved in smuggling the valuables.
Two of the arrested passengers had arrived from Dubai while the third came from Hong Kong.
The gold and diamonds were found concealed on their bodies as well as special cavities located inside the vest and near the belt worn with the trousers of the accused passengers. Officials of the Air Intelligence Unit laid a trap on the intervening night of September 20 and 21 wherein they seized gold weighing 2.28 kg, worth ₹1.58 crore and diamonds, valued at ₹1.54 crore, in separate operations.
In the first case, one passenger who had arrived from Dubai to Mumbai was intercepted and was found carrying 12 gold bars having a net weight of 1,400 grams provisionally valued at ₹97 lakh which was recovered. He was hiding the gold bars in a cavity near the belt side of the trousers. During further interrogation, the passenger revealed that he was involved in gold smuggling on behalf of another passenger travelling on the same flight. The co-passenger was also intercepted based on the details provided by the first one and arrested in the case, said customs officials.
In the second case, AIU was working based on the specific information and a passenger who had arrived from Hong Kong to Mumbai was intercepted. During the search, an official found two gold bangles having a net weight of 886 grams valued at ₹61,38,864 lakh.
During further search, a Rolex watch valued at ₹13,70,520 lakh and cut polished loose natural diamonds valued at ₹1,54,18,575 crore were recovered from him. A Rolex watch is a luxury timepiece produced by Rolex SA, a Swiss watchmaker.
The gold bangles and Rolex watches were worn by the passenger and diamonds were concealed in a special cavity inside the vest, added the official.