[ad_1]
The Customs department in Mumbai has seized more than 20 kg of gold worth over Rs 13 crore and nearly five kg of marijuana in the past 12 days at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The department also arrested seven passengers for their alleged smuggling activities and working as carriers to earn hefty commissions from gold and narcotics smuggling rackets.
The Customs department said on Sunday after it intensified actions against traffickers between July 15 to July 27, it intercepted many suspicious passengers and seized smuggled gold and marijuana from their possession based on profiling methods and intelligence inputs. The smuggled gold was found concealed in various forms like dust in wax and crude jewellery, bars in cardboard boxes, between layers of paper, inside shoe soles, and on the bodies of passengers, Customs officials said.
The anti-smuggling law enforcement agency also caught eight passengers for illegally carrying foreign currency in violation of rules regarding permissible limits. (Express Photo)
Six Indian passengers who travelled from Dubai, Jeddah, Sharjah, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad to Mumbai were intercepted and were found carrying 24-carat gold dust, 24-carat gold bars and 24-carat gold wire Rhodium weighing 7.160 kg concealed around the baggage in wire, inside plastic cases of LED drivers and on their bodies. They all were arrested under relevant sections of the Customs Act.
Besides this, an Indian passenger, a resident of Vasant Vihar in Delhi, was intercepted and 4.977 kg of purported marijuana was found concealed in three small cardboard boxes kept in his check-in baggage. He was subsequently arrested under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Nearly Rs 1 crore worth of foreign currency was found concealed in the case role in the check-in baggage carried by the passenger, under the shoe insole, and in between layers of Lijjat Papad. (Express Photo)
The Customs department also said 22 Indians who allegedly brought 7.685 kg of gold and 30 iPhones from Dubai, Bahrain, Doha, Hong Kong, Sharjah, Singapore, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, and Jeddah were intercepted and found concealing these items inside the soles of their shoes, between two layers of papers, below the motherboard of the two PS-4 gaming consoles, and near the front wheel area of the baggage carrying trolley and on the body.
The anti-smuggling law enforcement agency also caught eight passengers for illegally carrying foreign currency in violation of rules regarding permissible limits. Nearly Rs 1 crore worth of foreign currency was found concealed in the case role in the check-in baggage carried by the passenger, under the shoe insole, and in between layers of Lijjat Papad.
The smuggled gold was found concealed in various forms like dust in wax and crude jewellery, bars in cardboard boxes, between layers of paper, inside shoe soles, and on the bodies of passengers, Customs officials said. (Express Photo)
Four foreigners travelling from Dubai and Colombo to Mumbai were intercepted and found carrying 1.197 kg of 24-carat gold dust and gold bars concealed in the trolley and kept in a pant pocket.
The Customs department has arrested only seven while the rest of the intercepted passengers were allowed to go after being penalised heavily, booked in smuggling cases, and also served legal notices as the contraband seized from them was small in quantities, an agency source said.
[ad_2]
Source link
