MUMBAI: Customs sleuths at the Mumbai airport on Sunday claimed that 61 kg of gold worth Rs 32 crore were seized in different operations in a day, the highest single-day seizure at the airport. According to the air intelligence unit (AUI) officials, this is the highest-value seizure by the customs wing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in a single day.
Seven travellers, five men and two women, were arrested in the seizures that were made on Friday.
In the first operation, four Indians returning from Tanzania were found carrying 1 kg gold bars, which were concealed in specially-designed belts with multiple pockets.
In another seizure, customs officials recovered 53 kg of UAE-made gold bars, worth Rs 28.17 crore, from the belts that the passengers had worn around their torso. The belts were handed over to the travellers by a Sudanese national at Doha airport during the transit time.
Moreover, the customs officials seized 8 kg of gold valued at Rs 3.88 crore from three passengers who had arrived from Dubai.
The four travellers were arrested and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody by a court.
As per the customs wing, the trio including two women was carrying gold dust in wax form. The gold was ingeniously concealed in the waistline of the jeans the travellers had worn. Here, one of the women was in her late 60s and was in a wheelchair.
The trio were arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
Detection of gold smuggling cases by Central agencies has increased by 85 per cent in 2022. A total of 69 cases of gold seizure was reported in the first six months of 2022 as against the 73 cases registered last year. The data was revealed in a report compiled by the Union Ministry of Finance, which was tabled in Parliament.
The incidence of gold smuggling has gone up, thanks to the recent hike in import duty on the precious metal and forecast by the bullion industry of rise in prices.
The Centre this year had announced a 5 per cent hike, from 7.5 to 12.5 per cent, in the basic customs duty on gold. Gold is mainly smuggled into India from the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, and even the Thailand capital of Bangkok.