Customs dept seize gold bars worth Rs 14L at city airport

The Customs department today seized 500 gram of gold bars worth Rs 14 lakh at the foreign post office in the airport here, an official release said.
The foreign post office at the airport handles the clearance of post parcels that arrive from various countries.
The officials, during scanning of a consignment that was mentioned as 'gift set kitchenware', sent from Rishad Thamil, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, to Minhaj in Chennai found some metal objects concealed in a jug, the release said.
The officials sent a call-memo notice to the receiver of the gift for examination. When he failed to appear, the parcel was opened in front of the independent witnesses at the airport, it said.

"The parcel contained jug, face powder and plastic flowers," the release said, adding the metal objects concealed in the jug were gold rods measuring 0.5 cm in diameter and 5 cm in length.
"The gold rods were found to be of 22 carat purity weighing 498 gram valued at Rs 14 lakh," the release said.
The gold bars were seized under the Customs Act, 1962, and further invesgtigation into the matter was on, the release added.