BENGALURU: The Customs unit at Kempegowda International Airport has seized 2.22 kg of gold worth Rs 69.75 lakh in three different cases in the past seven days. The largest single consignment weighed 1319.25 gm and was smuggled after being turned into gold paste, customs officials said. On Sunday, Puthaan Veedu Samseer Ali and Salman Faris C boarded a flight to the city from Dubai and Goa respectively.
Ali, who was travelling from Dubai, had concealed the gold in a paste form in a pair of sandals which he then handed over to Faris when he boarded the Air India flight from Goa. On landing in Bengaluru, they were intercepted by the Customs team based on profiling and then the officials discovered the gold. Both of them were held.
Another arrest occurred on September 13 when two passengers flying on Oman Air from Dubai via Muscat were caught with 333.30 gm of gold valued at Rs 10.50 lakh being smuggled in the form of 2 gold kadas. The passengers Vinod Kumar Parasmal Jain and Pinto Kumar were identified by the Customs officers for checking and it was discovered that they had worn the kadas after coating them with silver in order to fool the Customs department.
In the third incident, a crude gold kada and a crude gold chain, both weighing 568.60 gm and valued at Rs 17.91 lakh, were seized from a passenger arriving into the city by Malaysian Airlines from Kuala Lumpur. Moideen Kunju Mohammed Shafi (47) had concealed the gold on his body and was intercepted on the basis of profiling, a statement from the department said.