Kochi: Air Intelligence Unit of the customs department seized 918.70 grams of gold valued at Rs 44 lakh and arrested the accused at the Kochi airport, officials said on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, they seized 2216.07 gms of gold worth Rs 97.5 lakhs at Kochi airport in two separate 2 cases.
The accused has been identified as Ahamed, a native of Malappuram. "Further investigations are going on," the official said. "On the basis of profiling done by the officers of Customs AIU batch, a passenger coming from Dubai to Cochin International Airport by flight EK 530 was intercepted at the green channel," an official familiar with the matter said.
"During the checking three capsules of gold in a compound form weighing 916.30 grams concealed inside his body were recovered and seized from his possession," the official said. Earlier in the month, the customs department at Trichy airport in Tamil Nadu seized gold worth Rs 47,67,198 and electronic goods worth Rs 4,25,000 from a male passenger who arrived from Dubai on an Indigo Flight.
Earlier on January 29, officials of the customs department at Trichy's international airport seized foreign currency of USD 10,000 concealed in the undergarments of a male passenger. Earlier in December last year, the Customs Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) intercepted a man and seized two gold biscuits, valued at over Rs eight lakh, concealed inside a tin at Trichy Airport. The gold pieces weighed 147.5 grams and had a purity of 24 carats.
Earlier in November 2022, Trichy airport officials seized one piece of gold weighing around 145 grams from a female passenger at the Tiruchirappalli airport. The gold piece was worth Rs 7,74,590 and had a purity of 24 carats. The officials extracted the yellow metal from 169 grams of paste-like materials concealed in the rectum of the female passenger."The female passenger arrived at Tiruchirappalli airport from Kuala Lumpur by Air Asia flight no-AK-23 on November 15," a statement had said. (ANI)
