Hyderabad: Custom officials foil gold smuggling

Hyderabad: The Customs Air Intelligence officers at the Hyderabad airport have arrested a passenger and an airport staff member for allegedly smuggling 933 gms of gold worth Rs 56.63 lakh on Thursday.

A senior customs official said the accused were apprehended based on profiling. “The accused passenger arrived at the Hyderabad airport from Dubai on Monday and gold was discovered in his luggage. During the inquiry, it was revealed that the gold was intended to be smuggled out with the assistance of airport staff,” said a senior officer.

The seized gold was confiscated under the provisions of Section 110 of the Customs Act and the passenger was detained under Section 104 of the Customs Act. Later, customs officials also arrested the airport staff member and an investigation is going on.

In another case, the officials foiled another attempt to smuggle gold and seized 206 gms of gold from a passenger who arrived from Dubai by Emirates flight concealed the gold inside a popcorn making machine. The gold is valued at Rs 12.57 lakh and was seized.