Delhi Airport: Gold worth Rs 4 crore found hidden inside door floor spring in Dubai passenger’s bag
PTC Web Desk: Customs officials at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport have seized about 3.2 kg of gold from a passenger who flew in from Dubai. The gold is valued at roughly Rs 4.03 crore, according to a statement issued on Monday.
The traveller, an Indian national, landed on October 19. Customs officers stopped him after spotting something suspicious in his profile as he came through. A detailed search of his luggage turned up gold rods tucked inside a floor spring.
A floor spring is a mechanical fitting installed under the floor near a door, which controls how the door opens and closes on its own. Officials said it was allegedly used here to hide the gold and get past the checks.
Customs has registered a case under the Customs Act, 1962, and the investigation is still on.
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Not the first such case at Delhi airport
Smugglers keep coming up with new hiding places and Delhi airport has seen several similar cases recently. Last month, two passengers arriving from Dubai were caught after customs officers recovered 2.16 kg of gold bars from them. The officers had followed them from the flight gate on the basis of intelligence and profiling and the man was found with 11 gold bars after he set off a strong alert on the metal detector.
A year ago, a traveller coming from Dubai was held with a much smaller quantity, but in a more unusual way. Officials found 170 gram of gold worth over Rs 21 lakh hidden inside the cap of a plastic bottle, which had been modified to conceal it. Customs called it a “novel modus operandi” and said such inventive methods are growing as global gold prices rise.
The latest seizure points to the same pattern. With gold prices high, smugglers are choosing ever more ingenious hiding places and customs teams are relying on profiling and detailed checks to stop them.
- PTC NEWS
