Smuggling attempt foiled: Customs seize gold worth Rs 4 crore inside IndiGo flight's speaker box
PTC News Desk: Customs officials at the Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport seized gold worth over Rs 4.2 crore that had been concealed inside a speaker box on an IndiGo flight arriving from Dubai on Friday.
During a search of IndiGo Flight 6E-1478, officers, with the help of aircraft engineers, found two packets wrapped in black tape concealed inside the speaker box. On opening them, they recovered 24 gold biscuits of foreign origin, each of 999 purity (24 carat), with a total weight of 2,799.3 grams.
Officials said the way the gold was hidden suggested it had been concealed by an unknown person to smuggle it into India illegally. Since no passenger or crew member claimed ownership of the gold, it was seized as unclaimed property under the Customs Act, 1962. An investigation is ongoing to identify those involved.
The seizure comes just weeks after Customs officers at the airport caught two passengers arriving from Dubai with a large quantity of foreign-origin cigarettes.
The passengers, who arrived on an Emirates flight, were stopped after suspicious X-ray images of their checked baggage drew attention. A detailed search uncovered more than 1.13 lakh cigarette sticks hidden in their luggage.
The seized consignment included 56,000 sticks of the "Mond" brand and 57,200 sticks of the "Gudang Garam" brand. The cigarettes were confiscated under the Customs Act, 1962.
- With inputs from agencies
