Jet Airways staffer among 3 held for gold smuggling

A Jet Airways staffer is among three men arrested by the customs officials in two separate cases of gold smuggling at Delhi airport, according to an official statement issued on Friday.

Acting on an input, a Jet Airways technician was intercepted on Wednesday. A detailed personal search resulted in the recovery of four gold bars, total weighing 1.3 kg, valued at Rs 43.36 lakh, from the pocket of a trouser worn by him, the customs department said in the statement.

On enquiry, the accused said he was to hand over these gold bars to a person waiting outside Aerocity metro station near the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, it said.

A team of customs officials then arrested the receiver of the gold bars from outside the Aerocity metro station, the statement said.

"The officers were trying to catch the person who may have brought gold and handed it over to the Jet Airways technician," a senior customs official added.

In another case, a man was intercepted by the customs officials after his arrival from Dubai on January 23.

His personal and baggage search resulted in the recovery of gold weighing 978 gram in the form of granules mixed with thick liquid, the statement said.

The gold valued at Rs 31.43 lakh was seized and the passenger arrested, it said.

In both the cases, three persons, including the Jet Airways technician, were arrested and gold worth Rs 74.79 lakh was seized.