An Afghan national has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle in gold worth Rs 40 lakh at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here.
The officials recovered four pieces of gold bars, which were wrapped with black cello tape and concealed in the shoes worn by the passenger. The gold weighing 1.5 kgs is valued at Rs 40 lakh, a press release issued by the customs said today.
The passenger was intercepted by customs officials yesterday after his arrival here from Dubai.
The Afghanistan national has been arrested and the gold seized, it said.
Customs officials said international smuggling syndicates are using poor Afghan nationals for illegally ferrying gold to India.
Another Afghan man was arrested by the customs at the airport in April this year for allegedly trying to smuggle gold worth nearly Rs 2 crore. That was one of the biggest seizures of the yellow metal at the IGIA in the past one year.
In March, an Afghan national was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle in gold worth about Rs 55 lakh.
On interrogation, the culprits have revealed that they are lured to smuggle gold by smugglers in exchange of money. These men indulge in the illegal activity to help their poverty-ridden family back in Afghanistan, officials said.
These smuggling syndicates send Afghan nationals to a third country from where they are sent to India, they said.
There has been an unprecedented five-time jump in cases of gold smuggling in 2014-15 over 2012-13, during which the yellow metal worth Rs 1,120 crore was seized, notwithstanding the easing of curbs on its import.
A total of 4,400 gold smuggling cases have been registered in the country during 2014-15. About 4,480 kgs (4.48 metric tonnes) of the precious metal valued at about Rs 1,120 crore was seized in these cases, the officials said.
There were 870 cases of gold smuggling registered during 2012-13, five times less than those filed in 2014-15 fiscal year. About 400 kgs of gold valued at about Rs 100 crore was seized in these cases, they added.
