On a day, which was considered auspicious for buying gold, two persons were caught smuggling gold worth over Rs 25 lakh at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport here on Tuesday. Customs officials also nabbed their aide who was waiting for them at the airport.
The duo had landed at Nagpur from Sharjah by Air Arabia flight G 9 -416 and were planning to go to Mumbai further using a domestic flight. While one of them hail from Thane district in Maharashtra, the other was from Tirunelveli district in Kerala.
During investigation, it was found that the gold was being smuggled in the form of paste, which was hidden inside their body.
One of the persons, hailing from Thane near Mumbai, had hidden the gold weighing 455 gram worth Rs 13.2 lakh inside his body and revealed the name of the receiver after getting caught, a customs official said.
“The receiver waiting outside the airport was nabbed who gave us further information that a third person was also inside the airport premises carrying gold illegally,” he said.
He too was held just as he was about to take a flight to Mumbai. He was hiding gold worth Rs 12.1 lakh (380 gram), the official said, adding that a total of 830 grams of gold was seized from both of them.
It is learnt that the smugglers convert gold into powdered form and thereafter mix the gold with some substances and make it into a compound which physically will be in the form of a paste. The paste is hidden in the waist belt worn by the carriers or inside their body. The customs officials have not revealed the identity of all three accused. Further investigation is going on.
