The Customs department has arrested a man from the Mumbai international airport for allegedly trying to smuggle diamonds worth ₹1.49 crore out of the country by hiding them in tea powder pouches kept in his luggage, officials said.
The 30-year-old accused, Mukkim Raza Ashraf Mansuri, was arrested on August 9 by the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs department when he was about to fly to Dubai, a Customs official said. “Mansuri, a resident of Null Bazar area in south Mumbai, was arrested at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. He was about to travel to Dubai in a private airliner flight.
During the checking of his hand baggage, a suspicious packet of a major tea brand was found,” he said. When the packet was opened, 34 diamonds kept in eight small pouches of a branded tea powder were found, the official said.
“The diamonds weighed 1,559.68 carats and were worth ₹1.49 crore,” he said. During his interrogation, it came to light that Mansuri was promised ₹5,000 for smuggling the diamonds out of the country, the official said, adding that he has been arrested under the Customs Act.
In June Delhi’s customs officials had carried out the destruction of 1,289 units of liquor bottles and 51.68 kg of drugs at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI). According to the Customs official, the collection of liquor bottles from various brands was associated with either lost property or confiscated goods. The officials mentioned, “Delhi Airport Customs disposed of 1289 units of liquor bottles of different brands pertaining to Lost Property/Detained goods at Terminal-3, IGI Airport, New Delhi over the period April 2020 to December 2022, by destruction on 19.06.2023.”
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Updated: 12 Aug 2023, 02:25 PM IST