KOCHI/MALAPPURAM: The customs team at the Kochi airport on Saturday intercepted a passenger who attempted to smuggle in 2.30kg of gold worth Rs 1.74 crore. The police arrested Khader Mytheen, of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, who arrived on a FlyDubai flight from Dubai in the morning.
As many as 20 gold bars were found concealed inside a specially stitched cavity around the waistline of the jeans he was wearing. Khader confessed to the customs personnel that he was hired by a person in Dubai to smuggle the gold. He was promised a commission from the sale of the contraband in Kerala.
The customs have started a probe regarding the people who hired Khader and the people who were supposed to receive the consignment in Kerala. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.
Meanwhile, at the Kozhikode airport, the customs seized 2.5kg of gold worth Rs 1.76 crore in three different cases last week. In the first incident, the officers seized 1.35kg of gold worth Rs 95.74 lakh from a man who arrived at the airport from Dubai. The Anakkayam native attempted to smuggle the gold in compound form by concealing the contraband in two pouches taped under his feet.
In the second case, the officers seized 646g of gold valued at Rs 45.32 lakh from a native of Thazhekode in Malappuram. He attempted to smuggle in the contraband in compound form by concealing it inside his body. In the third incident, 494g of gold worth Rs 34.94 lakh was seized from a native of Mankada in Malappuram. He attempted to smuggle in the gold in compound form by pasting it on the jeans he was wearing.
The officers also foiled attempts to smuggle foreign cigarettes through the airport. Two attempts to smuggle 10,000 sticks of Gold Flake brand cigarettes were foiled by the customs. One bundle of 10,000 cigarette sticks is valued at Rs 1.20 lakh. The passengers who tried to smuggle in the sticks were natives of Kannur and Malappuram.
Another attempt to smuggle 5,000 sticks of Essay brand cigarettes valued at Rs 0.60 lakh by a passenger, a native of Koodathai in Kozhikode, was also defeated by the customs officers.