Chennai: Customs officials at the Chennai airport on Thursday arrested a passenger, who arrived from the United States, for failing to declare that he was in possession of nearly three kg of gold worth Rs.75 lakh.
The passenger got past the Customs authorities and proceeded to board another flight to Madurai at the domestic terminal. When his baggage was scanned, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel found some material which, on further inspection, was found to be gold biscuits. They alerted Customs officials who seized the gold.
The officer said that any person who had stayed abroad for more than six months was eligible to bring up to 10 kg gold, which had to be declared before Customs. The Customs duty is Rs.30 per gram. Only after paying the duty in foreign currency would the passenger be allowed to go out.
The duty on the gold carried by the passenger would have come to Rs.3 lakh.
31/03/12 The Hindu
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