Customs seize 1.45kg gold worth Rs 58 lakh at Mangalore airport

MANGALURU: In separate cases, customs officials arrested two passengers who attempted to smuggle gold into the country through Mangalore International Airport on Sunday evening, and seized gold valued over Rs 58.95 lakh from them. The accused are Muhammed Swalih Chappathodi, 22, and Mohammed Nishad Cheruvanassery, 25, both from Malappuram district in Kerala.
Swalih, who arrived from Dubai on board SpiceJet flight, had concealed capsules containing gold in paste form inside his rectum which on purification resulted in the recovery of 797gms gold of 24 karat purity valued at Rs 32.35 lakh.
In another case of similar modus operandi, customs official recovered 655gm of gold valued Rs 26.59 lakh from Nishad who arrived from Dubai by Air India flight IX384.
Both of them were produced before the additional chief judicial magistrate court, said Joannes George, joint commissioner of customs, Mangaluru. Customs officials comprising superintendents Sreelakshmi, Gopinath, Savitha Kotian, Ramavtar Meena, and inspector Samala Mohan Reddy were instrumental in the detection and seizure of the gold concealed by the passengers, he added.