75,000 memory chips seized

Two men were arrested for trying to smuggle memory cards worth over R 1.3 crore into the country at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Sunday, Customs officials said.

Two men were arrested for trying to smuggle memory cards worth over R 1.3 crore into the country at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Sunday, Customs officials said.

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The accused, identified as Amrit Pal Singh and Kamal Chadha, who had arrived from Hong Kong, had used a unique modus operandi to carry the 74,250 2GB memory cards.

"They had concealed them in a well-stitched cloth zipper jacket which they were wearing around their chest and thighs," a Customs official said, adding that Singh, a native of west Delhi's Tilak Nagar, had arrived from Hong Kong late Saturday night.

"Though we sensed something was amiss while Singh was passing through the Green Channel, we diverted his baggage and scanned it — but nothing incriminating was found."

However, according to Arun Kumar, Additional Commissioner, Customs (IGI Airport and T-3), Singh's personal search, conducted subsequently, resulted in the recovery of 40,350 memory cards, valued at R72.51 lakh.

On interrogation, he revealed that there was another passenger, Chadha, who had passed through the Green Channel and had succeeded in going outside with a huge quantity of memory cards concealed in a similar fashion.

Following the information, Customs officers identified the second passenger outside T-3, and brought him inside for checking.

"His personal search led to recovery of 33,900 more memory cards valued at R60.92 lakh," Kumar said, adding that this was the biggest haul of memory cards by Customs officials at the IGI Airport so far.

In a similar case, thousands of memory chips, estimated to be worth more than R93 lakh, were recovered from two Delhiites at the Chennai Airport on February 8.

According to officials, more than 64,000 Micro SD Cards were discovered taped to Ashok Kumar Rattan and Pooja Talwar's legs after they were intercepted while travelling to the capital from Bangkok by a Thai Airways flight.