Mumbai: Gold smuggling cases with the aid of airport and airline insiders are increasingly becoming a headache for the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of airport customs. In the last year, 16 cases have been detected and 45 kgs of gold valued at Rs11.2 crore have been seized.
In a recent case, on March 14, a Jet Airways flight attendant was arrested for trying to smuggle in gold and diamonds to the tune of Rs1 crore. Abdul Hafiz Khatri, a crew member of flight 9W 543, was flying from Dubai, when AIU officials intercepted him at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA).
Previously, in December, a terminal manager with GVK was arrested for receiving a consignment of 14 gold bars from a passenger, who had arrived from Sharjah.
05/04/15 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis
