The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) and Preventive Wing of Customs Commissionerate, Mangaluru, on Tuesday successfully prevented air and a train passenger from smuggling gold and foreign cigarettes for domestic sales into the country.
Customs Joint Commissioner Joannes George told media that a passenger, who had arrived from Dubai on Air India flight IX814 at around 4.40 am, had concealed 766 grams of gold in a crude form on his body.
The department assayer was able to separate and recover 633 grams of 24K gold valued at Rs 25 lakh from his possession.
The arrested was produced before court, which remanded him in judicial custody till February 25.
In the second case, a person waiting to board a train for Mumbai was nabbed with contraband cigarette cartons at Mangaluru Junction Railway Station. ‘’He had come to Mangaluru from Kasaragod on a Pune-bound train and was waiting to board a train to Mumbai,’’ said Rajesh Poojary, Assistant Commissioner.
The officers have recovered 120 cartons of Dunhill and Gudang Garam, flavoured cigarettes from his possession.
Joint Commissioner George lauded the work carried out by Deputy Commissioner Raghavendra and his team that comprised Superintendent Sreenath H V, Inspector Sinmaya Pradhan and others.
“Customs will thwart any attempts by people to smuggle gold or any other items or sell contraband by evading taxes,” he added.
The joint commissioner said that from April 2019 till January 2020, the Air Customs at Mangaluru had seized gold worth Rs 6.38 crore from a total of 52 registered smuggling cases.
The department has been able to seize 17.65 kg of gold and arrested 10 persons. Besides gold, illegally possessed foreign currency, valued at Rs 33.48 lakh, were also seized from seven passengers during the period.
He said the Customs have disposed of confiscated gold and fetched Rs 9.54 crore during the fiscal year till January 2020. Unusual methods have been adopted by smugglers, including hiding under the wig and even inside the rectum as oval-shaped capsules, while smuggling gold into the country.
