Publishing house owner arrested with 9.4 Kg gold worth Rs 3 crore at Delhi airport

The owner of a publishing house and book store in Daryaganj and his associate were arrested by the customs at the Delhi airport on Wednesday for allegedly trying to smuggle 9.4 kg gold worth ₹3 crore from Bangkok. Police said the man and his associate had taped 12 gold bars inside their checked-in baggage. Following their arrest, the man also confessed to have smuggled as much as 60 kg gold in the past, officials said.

The customs officials did not reveal the names of the men arrested.

According to the customs officers, the two men arrived at the Delhi airport’s terminal three during the early hours of Wednesday and were intercepted following a tip off.

“They were asked to cooperate for a detailed baggage check. We found 12 gold bars inside one of their checked-in bags. During questioning, the two men said that they had bought the gold to sell it in India,” said an officer who did not wish to be named.

Officers said one of them owns a book store and a publishing house in central Delhi’s Daryaganj.

Additional commissioner customs, Amandeep Singh said the value of the 9.4 kg gold recovered from the two men is R 2.93 crore. “The duo also confessed to have smuggled about 60 kg gold in the past, in different incidents, worth more than R16 crore. The recovered gold was seized and the two passengers were placed under arrest,” Singh said.

In another case, the customs also caught another man for trying to smuggle in 110 bottles of a cough syrup containing codeine phosphate, which is banned for open sale.

Officials said the man, an Indian, arrived at Delhi airport from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “He was arrested following a detailed baggage check. He was arrested since these drugs cannot be bought without prescription,” an officer said.

First Published: Aug 08, 2019 22:01 IST