On a tip-off that officials from Tiruchy airport were conniving with smugglers, the CBI had raided the airport on Sunday and had also questioned 70 passengers from Malaysia. Subsequently, the CBI personnel secured 29 people, including the six Customs officials, on suspicion.

On interrogation, the investigators found that one of the passengers, Dhamayandhi of Tiruchy, had travelled over 30 times to Malaysia in the last two months. Further inquiry revealed that she was acting as a courier with her husband’s support. Subsequently, officials raided her house at Ramalinga Nagar on Sunday evening.

Among the secured persons, 23 travelled to other countries including Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka 15 times in a month. The passengers confessed that they were colluding with traders who utilised them for smuggling and that Customs officials were helping these smugglers. 

Following the confessions, the CBI team secured Assistant Commissioner of Customs M Venkatesulu, Superintendents Kalugalaslamoorthy and S Ramakrishnan, Inspectors S Anees Fathima and Prashant Goutam and MTS Freddy Edward and interrogated them separately. Later, all the six officials and 13 passengers were arrested and taken to the Madurai CBI court in the evening.

Earlier, officials had conducted a raid at the Customs office in which they recovered Rs 8 lakh cash and gold ornaments. Meanwhile, sources said that the Customs officials may have been involved in smuggling more than 30 kg gold outside India in a month. 

They added that over 47 kg smuggled gold has been seized in the past seven months.

In 2015, Customs officials had come under the scanner after the CBI had found that 35 kg gold and foreign currency equivalent to Rs 17 lakh stocked in a vault in the strong room had gone missing when they were to be produced before the court when the case was in progress. 

Investigating officers had questioned Customs staff who had access to the vaults. Among them were Superintendent of Customs Mohammed Farooq and Inspector Senthil Kumar, who were later suspended for “negligence”.  However, there is still no information on the missing gold.