The Customs Air Intelligence Unit at the Cochin international airport on February 16 (Friday) thwarted an attempt to smuggle in over 2 kg of gold estimated to have a market value of around ₹1.38 crore.
The seizure was made from a passenger, Rafeeque, a native of Palakkad, on his arrival from Sharjah. He was intercepted by Customs sleuths at the exit gate based on profiling. In the ensuing scanning, a suspicious-looking image of a speaker in his checked-in baggage caught the attention of Customs officials.
On closer examination, gold weighing 1,599 grams was found concealed inside the magnet of the speaker. Besides, four capsule-shaped packets containing 683 grams of gold (extracted gold quantity of 590.68 grams) were found concealed inside his body.
