Hyderabad Customs seize 2279 Kgs of smuggled gold

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Customs officials on Wednesday seized 2.279 kilograms of smuggled gold valued at Rs 1.37 crore related to a set of three cases, and over one lakh smuggled cigarette sticks in another instance at the international airport here.

The seizures were made based on passenger profiling and surveillance, according to Customs officials. A release from Customs department said in one case smuggled gold weighing 1,196 grams valued at Rs 72 lakh was seized upon rummaging the aircraft. The gold was concealed behind the aircraft seat in paste form inside a flight that arrived at Hyderabad from Ras Al Khaimah in the United Araba Emirates (UAE), it said.

In the second case, 752 grams of smuggled gold, in the form of cut pieces of gold bars, valued at Rs 45 lakh was recovered from a passenger who had arrived from Kuwait via Dubai. In the third case, 331 grams of smuggled gold valued at Rs 20 lakh, was seized from a passenger, who came from Sharjah. The gold was concealed in the form of paste in the undergarment of the passenger, it said. In another case, as many as 1,01,000 smuggled cigarette sticks were seized from three passengers who arrived from Cambodia via Bangkok. Further investigations were in progress, the release added