The Chennai Customs officials made a seizure of 588 gms of gold worth Rs 29.74 lakh from two passengers who arrived in Chennai from Dubai and Singapore. The officials recovered four gold paste bundles from the rectum of a passenger from Dubai. The officials seized the gold and registered two separate cases under the Customs Act.
A tweet from Chennai Air Customs said, “Around 588 gms of gold valued at Rs 29.74 lakh was seized under Customs Act from two persons who arrived from Dubai and Singapore. Four gold paste bundles were also recovered from the rectum and one gold round piece found concealed in a cordless screwing machine.”
The latest seizure was made close on the heels of recovery of gold worth Rs 2.17 crore from seven passengers who had arrived from Dubai and Sharjah. The passengers had swallowed capsules of gold paste wrapped with polythene/rubber cover.
In a similar incident, nearly 17 passengers who arrived in Chennai from Dubai by Fly Dubai flight and Emirates flight were intercepted by the customs officials following a tip-off. The passengers, who had landed on January 22, then admitted to concealing gold paste capsules in their stomach and rectum during questioning.
After frisking, the officials recovered 48 bundles of gold paste worth Rs 3.93 crore from the rectum. The remaining gold was recovered from pant pockets and handbags. It took the authorities eight days to recover the capsules from the passengers, who were admitted at a government hospital.
Following the recovery, the officials extracted total gold of 8.18 kilogram (worth Rs 4.16 crore). The recovered gold was seized under the Customs Act. Nine passengers, including a woman passenger, were arrested by the Customs.
Chief Commissioner of Customs, Chennai Zone MVS Choudary had revealed on January 26 that the Chennai Customs zone had detected a total of 481 smuggling cases involving Rs 64.14 crore in the past year (till January 21). Of these, Rs 55.58 crore pertained to gold smuggling.
(With IANS input)