19-year-old Afghani drug mule arrested in Delhi

New Delhi: A 19-year-old Afghani, who told his mother that he is going to Hindustan to see the jungles, has been arrested for carrying 38 heroin capsules inside his stomach. Majid Malekzada in his broken Hindi says that he needed money for the treatment of his brother, who is paralyzed, and therefore, he agreed to swallow these capsules to traffick it to Delhi.

Majid, who is from Kabul, said that he started working as a cleaning staff in a restaurant after passing XIIth. "A friend told me that I will get money if I carry these capsules to India. I was told the trick also. I got $400 for carrying these capsules," said Majid in his broken Hindi.

He said that it took him an hour to swallow all the 38 capsules. He had taken it a few hours ago before leaving for India.
According to him, when he came out of the airport on September 18 he complained of severe stomachache after which he became unconscious.
He said that his brother had come to receive him. All he remembers is that he was in a taxi and then after two days found himself in the hospital.
28/09/15 Nitisha Kashyap/Times of India

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Wildlife smugglers eye emerging airports

Madurai: On Sunday evening, officials at the Madurai International Airport seized a rather unusual consignment - that of 247 star tortoises, and arrested one person for attempting to smuggle them out of the country. Usually, the seizures at this airport are in the form of either drugs or gold, but this is the first time that tortoises were seized. The seizure of live tortoises has indicated that wildlife smugglers are looking at emerging airports where international routes are coming up.

The accused Abdul Alim, 60 from Ilayankudi in Ramanathapuram district was remanded in judicial custody till October 12. Forest officials estimated that the worth of the seized consignment could be worth Rs 70 to 80 lakh since each star tortoise is priced between US $300 and 500. They are favourite pets in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Alim, a conduit confessed that he secured them from some people in Chennai and was taking them to Kuala Lumpur through Colombo.
29/09/15 Times of India

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Gokul case: Cops to recover idol

Bengaluru: Gokul Macheri, 33, whose arrest for making a hoax bomb call to Kempegowda International Airport earlier this month ended up revealing that he had bludgeoned his wife to death, reportedly disposed of the idol used to commit the crime.

Gokul allegedly hit his inebriated wife Anuradha on her head with a Ganesha idol on July 28 and later sold the idol to an acquaintance, according to HSR Layout police investigating the murder.
29/09/15 Times of India

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Passenger in possession of 20 bullets taken into custody

Kochi: Police took a passenger bound for Hong Kong via Kuala Lumpur into custody with 20 bullets in his baggage at the Nedumbassery international airport in the early hours of Monday.

According to police the passenger, identified as Salim (52), a native of Pazhyangadi in Kannur, and said to be employed in Hong Kong, was taken into custody as he had with him 20 bullets (.32 mm) concealed in his baggage. This came to light during screening at the airport.
28/09/15 Kaumudi Global

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Pistol seized from ex-DMK MP SR Jeyadurai at Chennai airport

A pistol with eight bullets was on Monday seized from a former DMK MP at the airport here before his departure to Madurai by a private airlines flight.

During the screening of hand baggage of SR Jeyadurai, the former Lok Sabha member from Tuticorin, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel found a pistol with eight bullets, airport officials said.
As the authorities stuck to their position that weapons cannot be allowed, the former MP handed them over to his family representative following which he was cleared to board another flight that would leave later.
28/09/15 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Madurai airport officials seize star tortoises

Madurai: Customs officials seized 247 live star tortoises from a man at the Madurai Airport on Sunday evening. He was identified as Abdul Haleem, 60, from Ilayankudi in Ramanathapuram district. He was transporting the tortoises to Kuala Lumpur and has allegedly been acting as transporter (kuruvi) for someone in Chennai.
The tortoises were packed in a hand luggage and all of them were alive. Customs officials handed the tortoises and the smuggler to the forest department for further investigation.
28/09/15 Times of India

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Rise in gold smuggling at IGI Airport; about 100 arrested

Cases of gold smuggling have shot up at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here, with customs officials seizing yellow metal worth over Rs76 crore and arresting about 100 people so far this fiscal.

Smugglers have been found following different modus operandi including use of newly wed couples and airport staff as carriers to avoid suspicion while smuggling gold, customs officials said.

During 2014-15, a total of 230 people were arrested by customs officials in 388 cases of gold smuggling. About 596 kgs of gold worth Rs155 crore was seized in these cases, they said.

Whereas, in 2013-14, about 363 cases were registered in which 353 kgs gold worth Rs 92 crore was seized. A total of 123 people were arrested for smuggling, the officials said.

During April and August this year, the customs officials have arrested 100 people and registered 169 cases. As much as 293 kgs of gold valuing Rs76 crore was seized in these cases.
27/09/15 PTI/Khaleej Times

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The Hispanic trail into the USA via Delhi airport

New Delhi: More than 100 passengers from Punjab have flown from Delhi to the US' doorstep, San Salvador, via Havana in last two months and many of them have not returned to India on scheduled dates.
The mystery does not end there. From San Salvador, these passengers - mostly from Chandigarh and Jalandhar - were suspected to have been transported to Mexico by sea, aviation sources told Mail Today, adding that a Punjab agent made arrangements for their travel.
Hinting at possible human trafficking and illegal immigration to the US, foreign affairs experts said it was time a probe was ordered into this. Illegal immigrants are the subject of fierce debate in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential elections, with Republican candidates like Donald Trump even proposing a wall along the Mexican border.

Foreign affairs expert Sushant Sareen told Mail Today that Mexico border has been used for trafficking people to the US for years. "India is already facing the allegation that a large number of its citizens illegally enter the US.This case needs to be investigated thoroughly by an appropriate agency," he said.
The San Salvador-Havana-Mexico route, according to Sareen, is circuitous. He said the route taken by these passengers is a dangerous one as a number of people are robbed of money and killed while trying to enter Mexico. "Not only Indians, but also those from other Asian countries have been killed for money several times. This route may be a new choice as relations between Cuba and the US have improved. Traffickers are cashing in on it," he said.
26/09/15 Ankur Sharma/India Today

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Rectum concealment seems a preferred mode for gold smugglers

Tiruchi: Concealment of gold in the rectum had been reported at frequent intervals at the Tiruchi airport from where overseas flights are operated to Colombo, Singapore, Malaysia, and Dubai every day by different foreign carriers.

Customs officials say they had detected 51 such cases from January till now wherein the modus operandi of the gold smugglers was to smuggle the yellow metal in the rectum.

A majority of those caught at Tiruchi airport with gold concealed in the rectum were men who travelled as international passengers in different overseas airlines. A majority of them were Indian nationals.

Officials say the quantum of gold in various forms concealed in the rectum ranged from 50 grams to 1kg. Rectum concealment continues to be a preferred tactic by smugglers in a bid to hoodwink enforcement authorities in addition to other ingenious ways if the cases detected is any indication.

Out of the over 200 gold seizure cases reported at Tiruchi airport till now this year, nearly one-fourth of them were through the rectum concealment mode, say officials. In most instances, carriers caught adopting this modus operandi arrived from Colombo and Singapore.
26/09/15 R. Rajaram/The Hindu

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Smuggler gulps heroin capsules, hospitalised

New Delhi: An Afghan was admitted to a hospital in south Delhi after he swallowed capsules of heroin. Doctors found 34 capsules wrapped in a polythene. Police have so far recovered 240 grams of heroin worth Rs 35 lakh in the international market.

Abdul Majid Malekzada from Kabul is undergoing treatment and will be arrested on charges of drug trafficking.

It is suspected that Abdul swallowed the capsules to smuggle heroin from Kabul to Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

According to police, Abdul was admitted in an unconscious state to Institute of Brain and Spine in Lajpat Nagar.

People with Abdul told the hospital authorities that he had complained of stomach pain.
“The X-ray and CT scan of his abdomen, however, revealed the presence of large number of oval shaped pellets in his gut,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Mandeep Singh Randhawa.
26/09/15 Deccan Herald

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Jet Airways crew member held with 11 kg gold worth Rs 27 lakh

Mumbai: A Jet Airways crew member was held by Customs early Thursday morning for attempting to smuggle 11 kg gold worth Rs 27 lakh. This is the second time, this year, that a crew member of the airline has been apprehended for smuggling gold. According to Mumbai Customs, the crew member, aged 24, was one of the two flight attendants onboard Jet Airways flight 9W-543 that arrived in Mumbai from Dubai, to be questioned. “Through profiling on-board the aircraft and after it landed, we became suspicious of the two male flight attendants. After the flight landed, we took them aside for a search,” said an official from the Customs’ Air Intelligence Unit. The crew member was asked to wait in a corridor and his colleague was searched inside by Customs. “He was seated on a sofa and hid the gold in a corner of the sofa. He had only a few seconds to do it before being called inside,” said the Customs officer. The duo were allowed to leave after no gold was found on their person or in their luggage and would have got away, the officer said, but a Customs sepoy noticed a package on the sofa after left by the crew member.
25/09/15 Indian Express

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Flask used to smuggle Rs 1.35 cr worth gold

Chennai :  About four-and-a-half kg of gold, worth Rs 1.35 crore, was seized by Customs officials from a passenger this morning at the Chennai airport.

During routine check carried out by the Customs, Ibrahim Sheik (35), a Kadapa-bound passenger who arrived from Bahrain at 7.30 am, was found in possession of the gold biscuits.

Sources said, 'Due to the suspicious behaviour of the passenger, the officers conducted a detailed personal search, during which they recovered gold bars weighing four-and-a-half kg concealed in the flask which the passenger was carrying.'
25/09/15 News Today

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Nine men held at IGI with fake documents

New Delhi: Nine men were arrested for trying to travel to Dubai on fake documents from the Indira Gandhi International airport. Police is also tracing a man in Dubai who had reportedly sent Visa for these nine men. Three agents from Uttar Pradesh who made arrangments for their fake documents have also been nabbed.

The police stumbled upon the gang, when one of the agents from Moradabad (UP) was nabbed at the airport on Friday while he was trying to send these nine men from the town to Dubai.

The arrested agent has been identified as Zakir Pasha (45), his associate Irfan (32), and the kingpin of the gang, Shailesh Kumar Singh.
23/09/15 Times of India

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Kamal launches probe into attack on Sivakarthikeyan

Kamal Haasan has asked top office-bearers of his fan club to launch an investigation to find out the people behind the attack on Sivakarthikeyan at Madurai airport.

“Once the culprits are found, Kamal will take strict action against them. They may even be expelled from the fans organisation,” sources said.

“The Ulaga Nayagan never likes such things and the attack is highly condemnable,” a member of Kamal Narpani Iyakkam said.

When Siva reached Madurai airport on Sunday morning, a group of people ran behind him and attacked him. They claimed themselves as Kamal fans and said the ‘Kaaki Sattai’ actor spoke ill of Kamal and Shruthi Haasan.
22/09/15 MyKollywood.com

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Woman held for smuggling gold

Hyderabad: A woman passenger was arrested while she was allegedly trying to smuggle 1.7 kg gold at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here today.

The burqa-clad woman had arrived at the airport last night from a flight from Abu Dhabi and on being interrogated by the officers about possession of any dutiable/prohibited goods, she denied, Customs (Hyderabad Zone), Assistant Commissioner, Priyanka told PTI.
22/09/15 Business Standard

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Unclaimed gold worth Rs 57 lakh found at Intl airport

Amritsar: Gold bars weighing around 2.158 kg were today found inside a toilet of Sri Guru Ramdas International Airport here today.

According to officials, the gold worth around Rs 57 lakh, was noticed by the airport immigration staff in a toilet, wrapped in well packed packet.
21/09/15 PTI/Business Standard

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DRI seizes around 6 kg gold in AI flight

Tiruchi: Sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Monday seized around six kilograms of gold that was being smuggled in an Air India Express flight operating in the Singapore–Tiruchi–Chennai sector.

Acting on specific intelligence input, a DRI team from Chennai boarded the Air India Express aircraft IX- 681 upon arrival at Tiruchi in the afternoon.

Passengers under suspicion on board were at first checked. Thereafter, the team rummaged the flight and found about 5 kg of gold in various shapes abandoned in the aircraft’s bathroom, airport sources said.
22/09/15 R. Rajaram/The Hindu

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Actor Sivakarthikeyan attacked by fans at Madurai airport?

A video has gone viral capturing actor Sivakarthikeyan rushing out from Madurai airport as some people seem to be allegedly attacking him. Social media has been abuzz with this news since Sunday. However, it is still not clear whether the actor was actually attacked by some people who are said to be fans of Kamal Haasan.

One story doing the rounds is that some Kamal Haasan fans were upset with the actor as his next film is titled Rajini Murugan after Rajinikanth and not Kamal Haasan. Another rumour is that the actor had made negative remarks about Kamal Haasan’s daughter, Shruti Haasan, and hence Kamal’s fans attacked him.
21/09/15 Latha Srinivasan/Daily News & Analysis

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Chinese national with invalid air ticket arrested

Mumbai: A 32-year-old Chinese national has been arrested by the Sahar police on alleged cheating charges, because he entered the Mumbai international airport in Andheri (east) with an invalid ticket on Saturday night to see his wife off. He has been remanded to police custody for further probe. Sources said that there is definitely a security lapse on the part of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and an inquiry should be initiated in the matter.
According to sources, the accused is identified as Kai Bian, son of Li Ping Bian. For over six months he has been living in Nerul in Navi Mumbai for work. He works for a private company that has provided him with accommodation. Senior inspector Prashant Marde of Sahar police confirmed the development, adding that Bian had an invalid ticket.
Bian’s wife was also living with him and on Saturday night he had gone to the international airport with her to see her off as she was leaving for Hong Kong. After the arrest, Bian claimed before officials of the CISF that his wife had given him an idea through which he could enter the airport and be with her till she takes the flight.
21/09/15  Jayprakash S. Naidu/Asian Age

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Indian manager’s jail term for sexual assault upheld in Dubai

Dubai: A Dubai court has upheld a three-month jail term handed down to a 43-year-old Indian manager for sexually assaulting an Emirati female employee. The convict, identified only with his initials MP, worked as a manager at Dubai International Airport.

In February, MP molested the 26-year-old victim who is a customer service agent, The National newspaper reported.”I was at Terminal 2 of Dubai International Airport where I work. I took a short break and headed to the Indian airline section, where the defendant was,” the victim said.
MP then joined her in the break room and they spoke about her aviation exam.”I went to the testing room and logged into the system to check the exam. He came and said he could help me. I agreed, then I accidentally dropped my pen. When I reached for it he grabbed my hand and kissed it, telling me not to worry and that he would help me pass,” she was quoted by the paper as saying.
19/09/15 PTI/India.com

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