1.65 kg gold seized at Indian airport, nine Sri Lankans held
February 28, 2017 03:23 pm
In a major catch, the Indian customs sleuths have seized 1.65kg gold from nine passengers from Sri Lanka at Trivandrum International Airport, the Times of India news agency reported.
The gold worth 46.02 Indian rupees was seized from Colombo natives.
They had arrived at the airport in a SriLankan airline flight UL 1161, which landed at 4am. The gold brought in the form of jewellery (bangles, rings and necklaces) was worn by the passengers.
The passengers, one man and eight women were intercepted by a team of customs officials, after they had completed immigration procedures and were going towards baggage collection. The customs officials conducted an inquiry, during which they revealed that the jewellery was brought for sale and the accused were arrested by the customs unit.
A team led by deputy commissioner Vagish Kumar Singh, superintendents Reji P, Bobby Aloysius, Veerachamy, Seetharaman and intelligence officers Salini R and Akshay conducted the operation.
According to intelligence officer of customs unit Salini R, it is one of the major gold seizure this year at the airport.
"They were intercepted after profiling and noticing their frequency of travel. They were carrying heavy jewellery and on questioning they revealed that it was brought for sale. A case has been registered as per customs act," said Salini.
-Agencies