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Hyderabad: Gold worth Rs 2.8 crore seized in 10 days

In a span of ten days, the customs officials have seized Rs 279.16 lakh worth gold in 13 cases of smuggling.

Hyderabad: The increase in the profit margin for racketeers is forcing them to continue smuggling gold into the country despite having the smuggled goods seized. The efforts of smugglers to change the modus operandi has however failed as the customs officials managed to seize another 6.7 kg of gold.

In a span of ten days, the customs officials have seized Rs 279.16 lakh worth gold in 13 cases of smuggling.

The biggest catch was on February 10, where four women passengers who arrived at RGIA in an Air India flight from Jeddah attempting to smuggle 2.5 kg of gold in the form of chains and bars. Two days later, a rectum concealment of 871 grams was recovered from a passenger who arrived in Bangkok, while in other cases, the gold was concealed inside the garments.

However, the smuggling did not stop and four more passengers including three women who arrived from Jeddah were caught carrying 1.2 kg gold.

A day after the incident, a passenger from Singapore who arrived at Hyderabad was intercepted at the exit gate, just before vanishing into the crowd. The passenger was concealing 844 grams of gold bars in the form of paste in his socks and innerwear.

Again on February 19, during the early hours, a Sudanese woman was held attempting to smuggle 287.5 grams of gold in the form of ornaments concealed in her innerwear and footwear. A few hours later, in the evening, a man who was carrying 149 grams of gold in a dye grinder was held. Both the passengers had arrived at Shamshabad Airport on separate flights from Dubai.

The customs officials rummaged the Spicejet aircraft that arrived from Jeddah, and upon a thorough check, 932 grams of gold was found in the plane. The eight gold bars of 99.9 purity was found in a pouch that is used as a safety life jacket under a seat, which was supposed to be picked by someone else.

The Customs officials said, “The number of cases registered in the last few days shows the demand for the metal in the market. The price hike of the metal and also the profit margin are the reasons the smugglers are trying to bag on. However, they could not make it.”

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