An attempt to smuggle gold bars took place when Air Arabia flight G9 496 landed on Tuesday. credit: representative image
A man from Uttar Pradesh was caught by customs officials at the Kempegowda International Airport for smuggling gold bars hidden inside a compact manual juicer.
A 33-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh has been arrested by Income Tax Air Intelligence Unit officials for smuggling gold worth Rs 45 lakh. The man, caught at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport, had come from Sharjah and was carrying 930 grams of gold melted into bars. The bars of gold were hidden inside a blue compact manual juicer. The officers found his actions suspicious and questioned him. Once he examined the juicer, he found sticks in the juicer, one small and one big, The Times of India reports. The smuggling attempt took place when Air Arabia flight G9 496 landed at 2:50 am on Tuesday.
Further investigation is going on. Customs officials are trying to ascertain whether the 33-year-old was acting alone or part of a larger smuggling nexus. The suspect, after completing all legal procedures, was arrested on charges of customs evasion and gold smuggling.
In a similar incident that took place at the Bengaluru airport in September, customs officials arrested a passenger on an IndiGo flight coming from Dubai for allegedly smuggling gold worth around Rs 61 lakh, following a tip-off. The passenger hid the consignment under his seat. On cutting the packet, the officials found around 29 pieces of gold paste and gold bars. The packet contained about 600 grams of gold bars and about 700 grams of gold paste.
Karnataka: Acting on information, Air Intelligence Unit recovered 29 gold bars and gold paste worth Rs 61 lakh from under a seat at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. Further investigation is going on. pic.twitter.com/PJ9jHvu5TA— ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2021
Another such incident came to light from Mumbai airport. Customs officials apprehended a group of passengers who were carrying 3.8 kg of gold worth around Rs 1.52 crore. The gold was hidden in various articles such as coffee flasks, hair clutches and shoes. This team reached Mumbai from Sharjah.
Recent months have seen a spurt in cases of gold smuggling from UAE cities.
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