2 held for smuggling valuables worth Rs 1.2 crore

Customs officials at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport arrested three men last week in two separate incidents of smuggling refurbished high-end phones and foreign currency.

In the first incident reported last Tuesday, a man from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, who allegedly tried to smuggle into the country 204 high-end refurbished phones of various brands worth Rs 63 lakh, was arrested.

Officers said the man had allegedly brought the phones from China to sell in Indian markets. He was intercepted following a tip-off as soon as he landed at the Delhi airport.

“He was stopped for detailed checking. We found 204 mobile phones in his check-in baggage. Upon enquiry, he told us all phones were refurbished. He said he brought these phones to sell them in grey markets in India,” said an official who did not wish to be named.

In the second incident, customs officials arrested a man who was about to board a flight to Amritsar on suspicion of carrying foreign currency, on Thursday. “On questioning, the passenger said he had wrapped foreign currency in a plastic film and concealed them in his rectum before entering the airport, and then handed it to another passenger travelling to Bangkok in one of the washrooms of the airport. On this information, the other person was arrested minutes before he was about to board. Saudi Riyals and US Dollars and worth Rs 60 lakh were recovered,” the officer said.

Joint commissioner customs, IGI airport, Anubha Sinha said all three passengers were arrested and the phones as well as the foreign currency were seized.

First Published: Jun 11, 2019 05:18 IST