Customs Seize Coated Gold Objects Valued Rs 33.56 Lakh
Mangaluru: On 7 November 2016 the officers of the Customs Air Intelligence Unit with the assistance of the Customs batch officers at Mangalore International Airport, undertook careful profiling and screening of passengers and their accompanied baggage. This resulted in busting a unique modus operandi of gold smuggling and seizure of primary gold ingeniously concealed in the form of assorted silver coloured paint coated objects of various shapes and sizes viz., beads in chain and bracelets, circular objects in door handle locks, buckles of chappals, sheet in talcum powder tin, circular sheets in face cream tins, key chain rings, strips in measuring tapes, buttons on woolen jackets, adaptable screwdriver head bits and watch strip-holders which were in turn placed in a carton box.
The gold totally weighing about 1096 grams valued over Rs 33.56 lakh, was attempted to be smuggled by cleverly concealing as above by a passenger who arrived by Air India Flight No IX814 from Dubai. The passenger was arrested and produced before N Sunil Kumar Singh, Principal Civil Judge (Senior Division) and Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mangaluru, who remanded him to judicial custody.
It is a usual approach followed by smugglers that as and when a new mode of concealment is detected by officers, the smugglers change such modus operandi and devise and adopt another one to avoid detection.