Mumbai: Kenyan national held with Rs 34 cr worth Heroin by customs, six gold smuggling bids foiled at CSMIA

The officers from the Mumbai Airport Customs on Saturday nabbed a Kenyan national woman for allegedly attempting to smuggle 4970 grams of Heroin valued at Rs 34.79 crore. In six other cases, the Airport Customs officials had collectively seized 9115 grams of gold valued at Rs 4.53 crores and arrested three persons. The gold was found concealed in a specially designed jacket, flight, mixer transformer windings, trolley wheels, shoes and body.

Speaking about the case, a customs official said that the baggage of a Kenyan national who had arrived from Doha was checked at the airport and during the examination of her trolley bag, a white coloured crystal powder purported to be Heroin was found concealed in a specially made cavity inside it. The woman was then placed under arrest and was produced before a local court which remanded her to judicial custody. The agency is now probing from where the contraband was sourced and who was supposed to receive it.

On September 30 and October 01, officers of Mumbai Customs, CSMI Airport, Mumbai seized 9115 grams gold valued at Rs 4.53 Crores and arrested three across six different cases. In the first case, gold in dust form weighing 4518 grams valued at Rs 2.14 crore was seized from an Indian lady passenger who had arrived from Dubai. Gold dust packets were concealed in a specially designed jacket bearing multiple pockets.

"In another case, gold in bar form weighing 1405 grams valued at Rs 72.79 lakh was recovered from the rummaging of a domestic leg of an international flight from Coimbatore to Mumbai. In one of the cases, 365 grams of gold concealed as copper coated transformer wiring of a mixer/grinder valued at Rs 18.90 lakh was seized from an Indian passenger coming from Dubai," said a customs official.

He added, "Based on a suspicious image of the wheels of the trolley bag on the screening machine, one passenger who had arrived from Dubai was checked. On examination of trolley bag wheels, four gold rings having weight 699.20 grams totally valued at Rs 36.28 lakh were found concealed in the four wheels of two trolley bags. In one case, 816 grams of gold in cut bar form valued at Rs 42.28 lakh was seized from an Indian passenger on the domestic leg of an international flight, coming from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. The gold was concealed in the shoes worn by the passenger."

In the sixth case, based on intelligence, one passenger who had arrived from Bangkok was apprehended. On examination, gold having weight 1312 grams totally valued at Rs 68.09 lakh was recovered in form of three cut pieces of gold along-with gold dust in wax form in two oval shaped pallets as body concealment.