Customs seize gold, cigarette sticks from Kasaragod natives at Bengaluru airport

BENGALURU: Customs officials have caught two flyers from Dubai at the Kempegowda International Airport carrying 166 grams of gold in the form of cut pieces in their check-in baggage. The value of the items recovered by the Air Intelligence Unit is worth over Rs 13 lakh. 

According to a senior customs official, the duo are natives of Kasaragod in Kerala and arrived by  IX 1246. "Based on profiling of the passengers and baggage scanning, the items were found," said an official. 

Each passenger had individually carried 4 cut pieces of gold wrapped in insulated tape and silver foil in his baggage. The total value of the 165.89 grams of gold recovered from both is Rs 8.45 lakh, he said. 

The flyers also had Multivitamin capsules, one of them had 48 bottles of them and another 24 bottles. One individual also carried 24 bottles of fish oil softgel, the official added. 

They also possessed 12,000 cigarette sticks while customs rules state only 100 cigarette sticks can be carried by a flyer.  On January 23, Customs officials had caught three male passengers, also from Dubai, smuggling 29, 940 cigarette sticks in their check-in baggage.