Madurai: In what is said to be one of the largest hauls of gold from passengers at the airport, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials seized 31 kg of gold worth over Rs 8.43 crore on Saturday.
A report in Deccan Chronicle states that the gold was seized from 10 passengers who came to Madurai from Colombo and Dubai.They have been arrested.
The DRI received information that gold was being smuggled in apparently hidden in articles like cell phones, cigarettes and chocolate wrappers. They managed to evade customs as a result adds the report.
Of the 10 passengers subjected to detailed examination, three were arrested under the Customs Act 1962 "for offences committed in smuggling of gold", it said, adding, the others are being questioned.
The passenger manifesto of Mihin Lanka Flight, carrying passengers from Sri Lanka, Singapore and Bangkok, and the SpiceJet flight from Dubai, which arrived at the Madurai airport, was "thoroughly scrutinised", it said.
During surveillance of these passengers, DRI officials found that some of them brought common clothes, cell phone, cigarettes and alcohol. "However, they concealed gold in the baggage so that it does not get detected by the customs," the release said.
"On thorough examination of the baggage, it was found that gold was concealed in various forms including crude gold chains and rings," it said.
DRI officials seized one kg of gold bars, 100 gram of gold biscuits besides gold bars covered in chocolate wrappers. "The total quantity of such gold smuggled by this modus operandi amounted to 31.75 kg and (its) value is about Rs 8.43 crore," it said.
Passengers who arrived in Madurai on Mihin Lanka from Colombo and SpiceJet from Dubai were subject to scrutiny. None of the ten people arrested had declared the gold apparently. The gold bars were also reportedly found hidden inside the aircraft. Since the aircraft would fly to Chennai, the gang apparently believed that there would not be much scrutiny by the officials.
