The Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs seized nearly 4kg of gold, valued at Rs 1.54 crore, in three separate incidents at the international airport in Chennai on Sunday and Monday. The gold was smuggled in an emergency light, rice cooker and electrical juicer, a press release from the Customs revealed.
On Sunday morning, Sharafudheen, a 23-year-old man who arrived via an IndiGo flight from Dubai, was stopped at the exit of the airport. When Customs personnel inspected his checked-in bag, a rice cooker was found. When dismantled, the the rice cooker was found to contain a ring-shaped gold ingot weighing 610gm, worth Rs 25.22 lakh, inside its heating plate. Sharafudheen, a native of Kozhikode, Kerala, was arrested.
On Sunday night, Abdul Jaleel, another native of Kozhikode, was intercepted at the exit of the Chennai Airport. Jaleel, who arrived from Abu Dhabi via Bahrain on a Gulf Air flight, was carrying an electrical juicer. When Customs officials dismantled the juicer, they found a rectangular gold sheet weighing 438gm and valued at Rs 18.11 lakh. The gold sheet was concealed inside the motor of the juicer. Abdul Jaleel is 29 years old.
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On Monday morning, Ahmed Kabir, a native of Theni, was arrested after he arrived from Abu Dhabi via Bahrain on a Gulf Air flight. Customs officials stopped him after he appeared to be hurrying towards the exit. An emergency light inside his check-in baggage was found to contain 23 gold bars of 10 tola each, which weighed 2.68kg. The gold was valued at Rs 1.11 crore. The gold was concealed in the battery compartment. Kabir (44) was arrested.
Late in December, Customs officials at the Chennai Airport seized 2.8kg of gold, valued at Rs 1.1 crore. The gold was smuggled by five passengers who carried bits weighing 177gm in their pant pockets and bundles containing gold paste in their rectums.
On January 10, a native of Ramanathapuram, who arrived from Dubai on an Air India flight was caught smuggling 368gm of gold in his rectum.