Gold worth over Rs 1 cr seized from 18 passengers

Chennai:Gold worth over Rs one crore has been recovered from 18 air passengers who arrived from Dubai and Colombo on Saturday, the Customs Department said Sunday.

The seizure included 3.64 kg of 24 carat gold from 14 women passengers on Saturday, besides the recovery of the precious metal kept in the toilet of a national carrier that arrived from Colombo, a Customs release said.

A total of 5.33 kg of gold valued at Rs 1.76 crore was recovered on Saturday, it said.

The seizure was made following the "constant vigil" by officials of Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Customs, it added.

The men and women carried the gold in their checked-in baggage as well as in "concealed" in their person, it said.

Further, 892 grams of gold, covered with adhesive tape, was found from the rear toilet of a national carrier that arrived from Colombo and was scheduled to proceed to Hyderabad in its domestic run, it said.

Further investigation was on, the release said.