BENGALURU: Two women passengers, who smuggled in 57kg saffron, 30 iPhones, 10 Airpods, over 1kg of tobacco and Cuban cigars from, Dubai were nabbed by customs sleuths at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).
Smuggled goods worth Rs 78 lakh, hidden in their luggage, were seized and the women were booked.
According to sources in the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU), the passengers, identified only as a 33-year-old woman from Ahmedabad and a 36-year-old woman from Mumbai, landed at KIA at 8.50am Monday on Emirates flight EK 564 from Dubai. As part of passenger profiling, especially those from the Gulf, customs personnel on duty at the airport noticed something amiss about the women. They were intercepted by women officers on duty.
The duo had left for the UAE from Mumbai on February 26, 2021 but couldn’t give convincing answers about their short trip to the Gulf and return to Bengaluru instead of Mumbai. A baggage scan revealed a lot of undeclared items and physical examination of their belongings revealed 27kg of saffron worth Rs 16.2 lakh, 14 iPhone 12 Pro Max worth Rs 19.2 lakh, two iPhone 12 Pro worth Rs 2.4 lakh, five Airpods worth Rs 1.2 lakh and 755gm of tobacco worth Rs 10,500 from the luggage of the Ahmedabad woman. The total value of the seized goods is over Rs 39 lakh, AIU sources said.
An inspection of the Mumbai woman’s bags revealed the same kind of smuggled goods: 30.1 kg of saffron worth Rs 18.1 lakh, 14 iPhone 12 Pro Max worth Rs 19.2 lakh, five Airpods worth Rs 1.2 lakh, 1.02kg of tobacco worth Rs 14,000 and a Cuban cigars pack worth Rs 5,500. The total value of the seizure was estimated at about Rs 39 lakh.
The suspects were booked for smuggling and evasion of customs duty and released on bail and the goods were seized. A probe is under way to check if the women had any links with Bengaluru-based international smuggling gangs who deploy carriers by luring them money and free air travel, sources added.