Gold worth over RS 48 lakh seized at two airports in Kerala

Gold worth over RS 48 lakh seized at two airports in Kerala

Gold valued at over Rs 48 lakh were seized in separate cases at two airports in Kerala, customs officials said.

Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar said that gold biscuits worth over Rs 30 lakh were recovered from the toilet of an aircraft at Thiruvananthapuram international airport.

Officers of Customs Preventive Unit,Thiruvananthapuram, recovered 1049.58 gm of gold from Air India Flight No IX 540 which arrived from Dubai.

He said officials had information that some passengers coming from Dubai by the flight would be attempting to smuggle gold into India by concealing it inside the plane’s toilet.

A detailed search resulted in the recovery of a black coloured pouch from a tissue paper tray in the rear right toilet of the aircraft.

On opening the pouch, a packet wrapped with black insulation tape was seen inside which 09-gold biscuits each weighing 116.20 gm (total 1049.58gms) were concealed.

The seized gold biscuits are of foreign origin with 24 carat purity and valued at Rs.30,85,765, he said.

In the other case, Officers of Air Intelligence Unit, Air Customs, Cochin International Airport, Nedumbassery, seized five gold bars, totally weighing 583.2 gm, from a passenger who arrived at Kochi from Dubai by an Indigo Flight 6E 068 at 4.30 pm yesterday.

The officers intercepted the passenger, a native of Kozhikode, at the exit gate of the arrival hall, Kumar said, adding, the gold bars were concealed in his rectum.