HYDERABAD: Twenty-four karat gold is an extremely soft metal and making a gold chain out of it is considered almost impossible. However, a senior official from the Hyderabad Customs department told TNIE that some passengers travelling from other countries smuggle 24 karat gold in the form of chains to deceive the officials.
On Thursday, officials of the customs department intercepted a female passenger at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and seized three 24K gold chains from her. She was travelling from Dubai and had smuggled 526 gm of gold worth Rs 34.02 lakh.
The Customs official explained, “A 24k gold chain can be made but it is not usable. It has to be melted and blended with other metals to make a daily wear chain.” Smugglers tried to trick the officials by smuggling it in the form of gold chains, he added.
While gold kept in the form of bars is considered suspicious by the officials, it is not the same with chains. “Gold chains in a bag is a casual occurrence. That is why people try to smuggle gold this way,” the official said. Most often, smugglers get their hand luggage checked and keep their check-in baggage on the matrix.
“After landing, they collect their check-in baggage, usually go to a restroom, and transfer the smuggled gold in their clothing. This is the modus operandi,” the customs official shared.Recently, the Customs department has increased its surveillance and is actively seizing smuggled gold.