Six Sudanese nationals arrested for smuggling gold worth ₹5.38-cr

The arrested accused were produced in the Esplanade Court on Sunday and have been remanded in judicial custody

Mumbai: The Air Intelligence Unit of the Mumbai Customs on Saturday arrested six Sudanese nationals for allegedly trying to smuggle gold bars worth ₹5.38 crore into the country.

A search of Al Bahri’s person revealed that he was wearing a thick belt. It was taken off and examined and was found to be concealing 12 bars of gold, weighing one kilogram each, worth a total of ₹5.38 crore. (HT)

According to AIU officials, the incident occurred on Saturday evening at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, when 12 Sudanese nationals, who had come from Dubai, disembarked from an Emirates Airlines flight, and were attempting to pass through Customs.

“The group had not declared anything and were about to pass through the security check when one of them suddenly started running towards the exit. At the same time, five others started shouting and creating a ruckus solely aimed at obstructing the officials who tried to apprehend the first one,” said an AIU official.

The person who tried to run, however, was nabbed before he could escape the airport and was taken into custody. He was identified as Hassan Abdelwahab Hassan Ali Bahri, while the five others who tried to aid him were identified as Badreldin Elgaali Mahmad Hamza, Makwai Almeen Mohd Almaki, Omer Ali Gadalla Alhassan, Musab Ahmed Mohd Ahd and Omer Almin Mohd Elmaki.

“A search of Al Bahri’s person revealed that he was wearing a thick belt. It was taken off and examined and was found to be concealing 12 bars of gold, weighing one kilogram each, worth a total of ₹5.38 crore,” the officer said.

The six accused were subsequently arrested, while the other six were deported immediately. The arrested accused were produced in the Esplanade Court on Sunday and have been remanded in judicial custody, officials said.

“We have sought their travel history so that we can check whether they might have similarly smuggled gold into the country using the same or different methods in the past,” the officer added​.​