Mumbai: The officials of the Mumbai Airport Customs, during the period of February 16 and 18, seized over 9.83 kilograms of gold valued at Rs 5.18 crore an iPhones and foreign currency (31500 USD) across 17 different cases.
According to the Customs, gold and currency were concealed in the body cavity, clothes worn, plastic plates, tang powder and cabin bag.
Probe Underway To Identify The Source
The officials are now probing who had provided the gold to the flyers, who were supposed to receive the said consignments and if they were involved in smuggling activities in the past. The passengers acted as carriers or mules and were promised money by the smugglers.
Recent Crackdown On Gold Smuggling
In the past few days, the airport customs officials seized gold worth over Rs 5 crore from the Indian and foreign passengers allegedly involved in smuggling. By Feb 12, the airport Customs officials 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.
Concealed Gold Dust & Jewellery Seized
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.
