Huge gold haul at Chennai airport in last two days

Chennai: Customs officials at Chennai airport unearthed four cases of gold smuggling in the past two days because of constant vigil and specific tip-offs.

A total of 11 kg of gold worth Rs 3.75 crore was seized on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Srinivasan, 37, from Andhra Pradesh arrived from Kuala Lumpur on an Air Asia flight on Saturday night.  Based on a tip-off, he was intercepted and a search conducted of his baggage even though he tried to leave through green channel without declaring anything during customs check.

They then found 5 gold bars worth '19 lakh hidden inside an electric motor. The same were seized under Customs Act 1962. A case has been registered and he has been arrested.

The same day, two other passengers from Chennai, Usman, 37, and Abubakkar, 30, arrived from Kuala Lumpur on private airlines.

Customs officials intercepted them at the airport arrival hall exit on suspicion that they might have concealed gold in their person.

On checking their trolley bag, 300 gm of gold was found in the suitcase handle. The gold, valued at '10 lakh, was seized from them and further investigation is under process.

In another case, a 27-year-old Chennai resident was detained after 400gm of gold was found concealed in his rectum. He arrived from Dubai on an Emirates flight early on Sunday. The gold, valued at '12 lakh, was seized.

In another major haul on Sunday morning, AIU officers seized 9.8 kg of gold, worth '3.3 crore, from three passengers. According to sources, AIU officers on Sunday morning stopped Kamar Ali, 38, who arrived from Kuala Lumpur on an Air Asia flight. On checking his baggage, 47 Play Station PS4 Wireless Controllers (joysticks) were found. The joysticks were broken open to reveal 3.14 kg of gold hidden inside.

Similarly, the checked-in baggage of two other passengers - Riyas Khan, 32 and Ibrahim Shah, 52 -who arrived from Sharjah by an Air India Flight on Sunday morning, was taken in for detailed examination. On detailed examination, 39 and 61 joysticks respectively were found from their baggage.  First one joystick was broken up to reveal circular gold ingots in its two motor portions. Thereafter, all the 147 joy sticks were broken open and two gold ingots recovered from each, totalling 294 ingots.

Searched conducted on each passenger resulted in recovery of two gold bits concealed inside their pant pocket, weighing 120gm in all.

In another case, 3.14 kg of gold was recovered from Kamar Ali, 2.6kg from Rias Khan and 4 kg gold from Ibrahim Shah, totally valued at '3.3 crore. The same was seized under provisions of the Customs Act 1962. All three persons have been arrested. Further investigation is on.