KOCHI: The office of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Cochin International Airport Ltd seized 926.500 grams of gold from a passenger who arrived by Air Asia flight (No. FD 170) here on Tuesday.
AIU officers intercepted the passenger at the exit gate of the arrival hall of CIAL when he attempted to smuggle out gold, valued at Rs 28.47 lakh, in small rectangular pieces concealed in hair band clips kept in two pieces of checked-in baggage carried by him. An investigation is underway, said a Customs officer.
The seizure was effected as per the directions of Principal Commissioner of Customs Pullela Nageswara Rao and additional commissioner S Anilkumar.
The AIU team which effected the seizures was led by assistant commissioners Roy Varghese, E V Sivaraman and Customs superintendent K S Bijumon, K K Somasundaram, K G Sreekumar, Sathish K, inspectors Prashant Ranjan, Dheerajkumar M Suresh, and head havildars Shijumon P K and K C Nixon.