KOCHI: The customs department has initiated procedures to arraign Egyptian national and former head of finance at the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, Khaled Al Shoukary, in the case relating to the smuggling of $1,90,000 (equivalent to over Rs 1.4 crore) in August 2019 to Cairo via Oman.
Customs approached the additional chief judicial magistrate (economic offences) court on Tuesday to have Khaled named as a respondent. The court will hear the plea on Thursday.Armed with a nonbailable warrant, which has been sought in the petition, customs plans to approach Interpol to issue a red-corner notice against Khaled and pin him down for extradition.
Customs said Swapna Suresh and Sarith P S, key accused in the gold smuggling case, were also involved in the dollar smuggling. Khaled, the consul general’s confidential partner, allegedly smuggled out the cash while traveling to Cairo from Trivandrum Airport on August 7 last year.
Swapna, during her interrogation, admitted Khaled had travelled to Cairo via Muscat from the state capital on the said date. Moreover, in her statement, Swapna told officials she and Sarith had accompanied him till Muscat to facilitate Khaled’s hassle-free security clearance at the airport, and later travelled to Dubai.