Mumbai: Airport Customs Crack Down On Gold Smuggling; Over ₹5 Crore Seized In 4 Days

In the past four days, the airport customs officials have seized gold worth over Rs 5 crore from the Indian and foreign passengers allegedly involved in smuggling. So far this month, the airport Customs officials have seized smuggled gold worth over Rs 12 crore.

According to the Customs officials, in five separate cases from February 09 till February 11, the Airport Customs Commissionerate, officials seized over 1.76 kilograms of gold valued at Rs 97 lakh from foreign and Indian nationals. The gold was found to be concealed in the inner lining of check-in luggage, clothes and sandals worn by the passengers.

Details of crack downs

In ten separate cases made between February 07 and February 09, the Customs officials had seized over 7.88 kilograms of gold valued at Rs 4.29 crore and 16 iPhones across 10 cases. "The gold was concealed in the toilet of the Airport Lounge involving a housekeeping staff, in a juice powder box, sandals and body cavity among other places in these cases," said a Customs official.

On 6-7 Feb, 24, Airport Commissionerate, Mumbai Customs Zone-III seized over 6.33 Kg Gold valued at 3.49 Cr from Indian Nationals across five different cases. Gold was concealed on the body, in the clothes worn, mobile charger, purse, hair dryer and corner piping of check in bag.

"In four separate cases carried out between February 05 and 06, we had seized over 4.13 kilogram of gold valued at Rs 2.28 crore from Indian nationals. The gold was found to be concealed in the clothes worn by the passengers, inner garments and body cavity. In five different cases carried out between February 03 and 04, we had seized over 2.48 kilograms of gold valued at Rs 1.37 crore from Indian passengers. The gold was concealed in clothes worn and inside check-in bags, corner piping of check-in bags and pancake powder," the official said.

In another case on February 03, the Customs officers had seized gold dust and Jewellery valued at Rs 43 lakh crore from an Indian national travelling from Dubai. The gold was ingeniously concealed in chocolate boxes and baby powder containers carried by the passenger, officials said.