Mumbai Airport Customs Arrests 23-Year-Old Coffee Shop Staffer With ₹2.15 Crore Gold Dust; Probes Smuggling Syndicate Links

Mumbai, May 25: A 23-year-old man working in a coffee shop at the international airport has been arrested by Airport Customs officials for allegedly being part of a gold smuggling syndicate.

The accused was caught while allegedly trying to deliver a consignment of smuggled gold to someone outside the airport premises. Customs officials stated that smugglers could exploit this modus operandi on a larger scale, which may be detrimental to national security.

The arrested person has been identified as Ashish Yadav, a resident of Goregaon East.

Gold dust worth Rs 2.15 crore seized

According to Customs sources, during Sunday night duty, based on spot profiling that a coffee shop staff member was allegedly involved in gold smuggling and could hand over the contraband to someone outside the airport premises, Ashish Yadav was apprehended during the examination of staff working at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai, at the airport exit gates situated at Level P-10.

“During the personal search of the said staff person, he was found to be in possession of one white-coloured sock containing four brown-coloured oval-shaped capsules purportedly containing gold dust in the right pocket of the trousers worn by him. Twenty-four carat gold dust having a net weight of 1,470 grams, valued at Rs 2.15 crore, was recovered and seized,” said a Customs source.

Accused allegedly admits receiving consignment

The voluntary statement of the accused, Ashish Yadav, was recorded on Monday, wherein he allegedly admitted the possession, carriage, recovery, smuggling and handling of the gold.

The passenger allegedly admitted that the gold dust did not belong to him and that he carried it at the behest of another person. Yadav allegedly admitted to receiving the gold from a transit passenger for monetary consideration of Rs 5,000.

Customs warns of larger security concerns

“If left unchecked, this modus operandi is likely to be exploited by smugglers on a large scale, even to smuggle other contraband items which might be detrimental to national security. This modus operandi is required to be nipped in the bud to avoid huge financial loss to the exchequer. The investigation in this case is at a preliminary stage and the nexus is yet to be revealed by the accused,” the Customs source added.

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Court remands accused to judicial custody

Advocate Arun Gupta appeared for Ashish Yadav in court, following which he was remanded to judicial custody.

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