Chennai: The customs officials at Chennai international airport thwarted the smuggling of foreign currencies and shark fins to Singapore on Monday morning.
According to airport sources, Mohamed Saleem (54) who was bound for Singapore by Scoot Airlines was found to be moving in a suspicious manner with a big carton box in the departure area of the international terminal.
He was intercepted and was questioned about the contents of his carton box. As he was evasive in his reply he along with his checked in luggage was brought in for detailed examination.
On opening the carton box, two white HDPE gunny bags were found inside. The gunny bags were opened and they were found to contain suspected wildlife
products similar to shark fins. Further, two brown colour paper bags were found concealed inside the shark fins. On opening of the paper bags, assorted foreign currencies 6000 US$, 27600 EURO, 1000 Norway Kroner, 3400 Canadian Dollar, 2450 Sterling Pound, 14000 Qatar Rial worth Rs 33 lakhs were found. The same was seized under the Customs Act, 1962.
The seized suspected shark fins were examined by Wild Life Crime Control Bureau authorities and they certified that they were shark fins and as they appeared to be processed. There was a probability that these belong to a CITES-listed species.
Sources said the 14 kg shark fins worth Rs 8 lakh were seized under the provisions of the Customs Act. The passenger was arrested. Further investigation is under progress.
