The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Customs today detected three cases of gold smuggling and recovered gold collectively worth Rs 98 lakh which were being taken out of the airport without paying the mandatory duty.
In the first case, the sleuths stopped Mohammed Rafeeq who came from Dubai and examination of his baggage led to the recovery of 696 grams gold worth Rs 17 lakh. According to AIU officials, he had concealed the yellow metal in a toy.
In the second case, the Customs officials stopped two passengers, identified as Mohamed Rimsan and Mohamed Hanifa, and upon a thorough check, they recovered two kilograms of gold valued at around Rs 50 lakh from them.
According to the officials, both of them had hidden 10 gold bars each weighing 100 grams in their rectum.
Twelve gold bars of 100 grams each were recovered from another passenger Mohamed Sulthan Mohammed Ibrahim, who had arrived from Singapore via Chennai. He had wrapped the gold in his bag using black adhesive tapes, they said.
