Gold worth Rs 1 crore seized at Kochi airport

Gold weighing more than 3 kgs and valued at about Rs 1 crore was seized in three separate incidents of smuggling at the Kochi airport and two persons arrested in this connection. 

The three seizures were effected at Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery on Sunday, the customs department said on Monday. The first seizure was from a Malappuram passenger who arrived by a Saudi Airlines flight from Jeddah.

The passenger was carrying a speaker-woofer system with two transformers in it. In one transformer, gold shaped into wire rolls were cleverly concealed by winding into it. Two gold biscuits were also recovered from him, the officials said. 

In another case, a passenger hailing from Bhatkal in Karnataka, who arrived from Dubai by a Jet Airways flight, was intercepted at the exit gate of the arrival hall by air intelligence officers. On a thorough search, four gold biscuits hidden under his feet with adhesive tapes (two biscuits in each foot) were retrieved. 

The third case was from Air Arabia flight, wherein a passenger from Palakkad was carrying several perfume bottles. Gold in granular form was concealed inside the top portion of the lid of the perfume bottles. 

"The new techniques and novel modus operandi of the gold smugglers coming from different countries were successfully busted due to the alertness of the officers of the Air Intelligence Unit deployed at the airport," a customs release said. 

The total quantity of gold seized from all the three seizures is 3.18 kgs and worth Rs 97.77 lakhs. The persons were arrested and further investigation is in progress.