Mumbai: The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Customs has arrested a 24-year-old man for allegedly smuggling gold worth Rs 2.1 crore from Maldives. Inaamul Hassan from Karnataka is said to have hid the gold in the plane's lavatory. The officials believe that some airport staff is in cahoots with the syndicate, and was entrusted with the retrieval of the gold and its passage out of the airport.
According to the Customs sources, specific intelligence was received on Tuesday that Hassan, a passenger travelling from Male to Mumbai, had concealed smuggled gold in the aircraft. Upon searching the flight, the AIU claimed to have found 13 pouches containing gold hidden in the lavatory's light panel. Meanwhile, Hassan was also intercepted at the arrival hall.
“During interrogation, he confessed to concealing the gold in the lavatory of the aircraft,” said a Customs source. He said that he got into the illicit business to make money, the source added. The agency is now probing from where Hassan had procured the gold and who was its recipient.
Recently, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had busted a syndicate wherein certain passengers acted as carriers for gold smuggled into India. After arriving in India, they used to conceal the contraband in the aircraft waste cart, which used to be retrieved by another syndicate member. The precious metal would finally be handed over to a woman receiver.
