The gold biscuits seized at Pune airport. (Photo: Pune Customs)Gold biscuits worth over Rs 61 lakh were seized at Pune International Airport, the customs officials said Friday. The biscuits, weighing over 1,166 grams, were hidden under a seat in a flight that arrived from Dubai.
“On rummaging of Spicejet flight SG-52 which arrived at Pune International Airport from Dubai in the early hours on September 9, the Customs officers recovered a pouch containing 10 gold biscuits, wrapped by black colour plastic sheet. Biscuits are of 999.0 purity and weighed 1166.40 grams, valued at Rs 61.7 lakh. The pouch was found concealed under a passenger seat, and the gold was seized under the Customs Act, 1962. Further investigation is under progress,” Pune Customs said in a statement.
The seizure is the latest in the series of smuggling cases detected by the customs officials at the Pune International Airport.
On July 31, a passenger was intercepted based on profiling by the sleuths of the Air Intelligence Unit and after a detailed search, it was found that he was concealing 650 gram gold worth Rs Rs 30.45 lakh in paste form inside his shoes.
Earlier on July 23, the customs officers at Pune Airport seized foreign currency equivalent to about Rs 32 lakh, which a group of passengers had attempted to smuggle.