Friday, October 02, 2020

Mumbai: Flyers intercepted with foreign currency, gold at city airport

The Mumbai Customs has seized foreign currency and gold worth Rs 29.84 lakh at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) since Wednesday.

According to the customs, they intercepted a passenger while departing to Sharjah on Wednesday. The passenger was carrying 26,390 US dollars, equivalent to Rs 19.23 lakh. “The currency was cleverly concealed in a false cavity made in his backpack,” the customs stated.

In another case, a passenger was intercepted based on suspicion and was found carrying six gold bars, collectively weighing 659 grams of gold. The gold has been seized and a case has been registered in this regard.

Sources stated that smugglers cash-in the price difference of gold in the country compared to other countries. Due to the stringent lockdown and lack of flights, gold smuggling activities in the country had slowed down. With operations resuming, smugglers are trying to sneak in the precious gold.

A Spate of such cases has been reported recently at the city airport as smugglers are trying to take advantage of the pandemic situation anticipating less checking and scrutiny. On Monday, two passengers were intercepted carrying wet gold dust and a gold chain. The value of the seized gold was Rs 29.50 lakh and Rs 28.94 lakh respectively.

02/10/20 Pratik Salunke/Free Press Journal

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