11 Vande Bharat passengers detained by Hyderabad Customs for smuggling 3.11 kg gold

Hyderabad customs on Thursday arrested 11 passengers at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, for smuggling in 3.11 kg of gold from Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The passengers arrived in Hyderabad by Vande Bharat Mission Air India flight, as part of the COVID-19 evacuation. All passengers have been booked under smuggling act as they tried to smuggle gold through their unique way but were apprehended during customs profiling at the airport, a customs official informed.

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"On July 30, based on suspicion and profiling of the passengers, booked cases against 11 passengers in connection with smuggling of gold. The passengers have arrived in the Vande Bharat Mission Air India Flight No.1918 (Dammam to Hyderabad)," a Customs official told ANI.

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The Custom official informed that the passengers had concealed the gold in the inside pocket of their trousers which they were wearing. The total gold seized from all the passengers put together is 3.11 kgs and is valued at Rs.1.66 crores, he added. The investigation by the customs department further revealed that all accused are involved in gold smuggling and  Airport Intelligence Unit (AIU) from the Customs department launched an investigation to find out the main accused/operator of gold.

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Another incident reported

Earlier, the Customs officials at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad had also seized gold worth around Rs 3.5 lakh from a person who arrived on a Dubai-Hyderabad flight on July 22. According to Customs officials, they followed specific inputs and it was during routine checking that the passenger was caught smuggling gold paste weighing about 74 grams that was concealed in his wristwatch. Further investigations are underway, the officials informed.

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(With inputs from ANI)