CHENNAI: Customs officials have arrested two persons and seized 3.6-kg gold worth Rs 1.1 crore and foreign currency worth Rs 12 lakh at the airport here.A Customs department release said that five cases of smuggling –three of gold and two of foreign currency – were detected on Sunday and one case of gold smuggling on Monday morning.
Sikkandar Samsudeen (40) of Chennai, who arrived from Dubai by Emirates Airlines Flight, was arrested on Monday after officials recovered 12 gold bars and four gold cut bits totally weighing 1.6 kg worth Rs 48 lakh. They were wrapped with black adhesive tape and kept concealed inside pant pocket.
On Sunday evening, Mohamed Sharif (48) of Kasargod, who arrived from Dubai by Emirates Airlines Flight, was also arrested after Customs officials recovered 11 gold bars weighing 1.2 kg worth Rs 39 lakh. They were concealed in a mobile phone cover-like plastic box with rexin cover and disguised and made to appear like a mobile phone kept inside the pant pocket.
Similarly, Customs officials recovered three cut gold bits weighing 543 grams valued at Rs 16.6 lakh from Jannathulasma Mohamed Hanifa (50) of Thanjavur who arrived from Kuwait by Air India flight.
In another case, gold weighing 285 grams worth Rs 8.5 lakh was seized from Azarudeen (25) of Sivaganga, who arrived from Dubai by Flydubai Airlines flight.
Meanwhile, US dollars 3,000 and 1,000 Saudi Arabian riyals worth Rs 4.5 lakh and 43,000 Saudi Arabian riyals equivalent to Rs 7.2 lakh were recovered from Kaleel Raghuman Mustafa (47) and Hajamydeen Ameer Mydeen (33) from Madurai. They were both bound for Singapore via Colombo.
5 cases in a single day
Five cases of smuggling –three of gold and two of foreign currency – were detected on Sunday