Gold, cigarette smuggling bids at city airport foiled

Customs officials foiled three bids to smuggle in gold worth Rs 27.3 lakh and other valuables worth Rs 6.34 lakh, at Chennai airport on Tuesday.
Chennai Airport (File | EPS)
Chennai Airport (File | EPS)

CHENNAI: Customs officials foiled three bids to smuggle in gold worth `27.3 lakh and other valuables worth Rs 6.34 lakh, at Chennai airport on Tuesday.

In the first case, the checked-in baggage of Ahamed Basha Shaik Aged (46), who had arrived from Riyadh, was searched and officials found a door handle in which 12  gold cut bits totally weighing 580 grams worth `19 lakh, were found concealed. It was seized under Customs Act 1962.

In the second case, a personal search was carried out on Fathima Asmiya Mohamed Asmi (36), who arrived from Colombo. It was found that she had concealed four gold cut bits in her rectum. The gold bits weighing 200 grams valued at Rs 6.5 lakh, were recovered.

Similarly, on examining the checked-in baggage of Mohamed Basith Mohamed Gani (19), who had arrived from Sharjah, sleuths seized 10 cartons of Gudang Garam cigarettes, 25 cartons of 555 State Express cigarettes worth Rs 74,000, 2.2 kg of Iranian Grade-I saffron of Behrang and Termes brands worth Rs 5 lakh, and 12 assorted old and used laptops worth `60,000.

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