Two gold bars of 1 kg each, 110 cartons of foreign cigarettes and 14 kg of saffron were seized at the airport here on Thursday.
An Emirates Air passenger, who came from Dubai on flight EK 532, was caught carrying the gold bars, worth Rs 56 lakh, that were seized by the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs Department at the airport.
He was identified as Abdul Nazer, 42, son of Kunjabdulla, Chappayil house, Kasaragod.
From another passenger on the same flight, 110 packets of Indonesian-made cigarettes Gudgam Garam, with an assessed market value of Rs 1.76 lakh, were seized.
He was identified as Abdul Rahiman Sulaiman, 43, son of Aboobakker Sulaiman of Korakunnil house, Bendichalmthekil, Kasaragod.
14 kg of Iran-imported saffron was recovered from passenger Muhammed Afsal Achanichi, 33, son of Usman, Achanichinta house, near Vatakara Beach, Kozhikode, who came from Dubai by another Emirates Air flight EK 530.
Chief Commissioner of Central Excise and Customs S Subramanian told ‘Express’ that this was the first time that three smuggling attempts were cleverly foiled by the Air Intelligence Unit on the same day.
The unearthing of two incidents of gold-smuggling via Kochi airport within 25 days hints at bigger operations by Dubai-based smuggling agents in the coming days, he said.
Following his detention, Abdul Nazer had received frequent calls from Dubai indicating that somebody was behind the operation and Nazer had served just as a carrier for him, Subramanian said.
Smuggling of gold to Kerala might increase, he said, as its prices in Indian markets have gone up.
Import duty on gold was recently raised to 8 per cent from 6 per cent, heightening the chances of smuggling.
The Chief Commissioner said as the situation was ‘vulnerable’, special alerts had been issued to all international airports in the country.
According to C Madhavan, Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Nazer was found fumbling as he reached the Customs counter, rousing suspicion.
On checking, the two gold bars were found hidden in his pant pockets.
Madhavan said the seizures were made possible due to the extreme caution and alertness of the Customs officials during the checking. Anil Kumar, Assistant Commissioner, said the detainees would be handed over to the Economic Offences Court after questioning by Customs officials.
