Hyderabad: 11 gold smugglers caught at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport

HYDERABAD: Customs sleuths intercepted 11 passengers who arrived from Dammam at Rajiv Gandhi International (RGI) Airport in Shamshabad on Thursday and seized 3.11 kilos of gold from their possession. According to Customs officials, the value of the smuggled gold is Rs 1.66 crore.
Based on passenger profiling, the Air Intelligence Unit sleuths of the Customs department have intercepted 11 passengers who arrived at RGI Airport in the Vande Bharath Mission flight from Dammam, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday night.
When subjected to scanning and frisking, Customs sleuths found gold biscuits concealed in secret pockets in the trousers of the 11 smugglers. "The total weight of the seized bullion was 3.11 kilos and its market value is Rs 1.66 crore,"said a Customs official.
During the interrogation, the 11 gold carriers who are from Northern Telangana, told Customs officials that some unknown smugglers have handed them over the gold biscuits at Dammam airport to deliver the same to their associates in Hyderabad. "The smugglers bought flight tickets of the 11 carriers and they might have also given them a paltry amount for their expenses as they will be in 14 days mandatory quarantine before getting a clearance to go home," said a Customs official.
The investigators suspect that the 11 offenders would have to hand over the gold to the smugglers only after the end of their quarantine period.
Customs sleuths did not arrest any of the carriers as the value of gold each of them was trying to smuggle out was less than Rs 20 lakh. The cell phone data of the 11 offenders is being examined to find out the members of the smuggling gang and a case was registered under the Customs Act.
This is the second gold smuggling case registered by the Hyderabad Customs sleuths at RGI Airport since the beginning of lock down. Prior to this, on July 22, a woman passenger trying to smuggle in 74 grams of gold concealed in a wrist watch was booked.
On Thursday, Customs officials along with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) sleuths have identified five passengers who were trying to smuggle out sandalwood from Hyderabad to Khartoum. Officials seized 78.5 kilos of sandalwood.