International gold smuggler intercepted by NCB at Nagpur airport, gold worth ₹1.8 Cr seized

The Mumbai unit of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) intercepted a man arriving from Jeddah and seized 3.35 kilos of gold worth Rs1.8 crore in the early hours of Tuesday at Nagpur International Airport.

The suspect, who works as an electrician in the Saudi Arabian port city, was supposed to hand over the smuggled gold to an accomplice waiting outside the airport.

The metal was in paste form and concealed in seven packets stitched along the inner side of his jeans.

How the NCB team nabbed the smuggler

“Due to heightened security and recent seizures of drugs and other prohibited items at Mumbai and other major international airports in the region, a plan was hatched to smuggle a consignment through another international airport. An Indian person returning from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Nagpur was identified and accordingly his flight details were tracked,” the agency said.

An NCB team waited at Nagpur airport on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday and with the support of Nagpur Customs identified the suspect. 

The suspect, identified as A Khan, was intercepted and searched for contraband, leading to seizure of semi-liquid gold paste concealed in his jeans. Khan held a skilled labour permit in Saudi Arabia. He worked in the Gulf country for three years as an electrician. He was handed over to Nagpur Customs for further investigations.