Kerala: Customs seizes gold worth Rs 52.5 lakhs at Kochi airport

Kochi: Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) seized 1,139 g of gold worth Rs 52.5 lakhs at Kochi airport on Sunday, officials said.

According to officials, on the basis of profiling done by the officers of the Customs AIU batch, a passenger coming from Dubai to Kochi Airport by flight 6E68 was intercepted at the green channel. The accused has been identified as Saifulla, a native of Malappuram district.

During the examination of the said passenger, two brown-colored rectangular-shaped packets suspected to contain gold, tied around each thigh and totally weighing 1139 g were recovered, the officials said.
According to officials, further investigations are on.

In a similar incident, AIU of the Customs department seized 2669.38 grams of gold worth Rs 1.40 crores at Kochi airport in two separate cases, officials said on March 18.

In the first case, on the basis of profiling done by customs, a passenger coming from Abu Dhabi to Kochi Airport was intercepted at the green channel.

"During the checking, 3 capsules of gold in compound form weighing 873.98 grams concealed inside his body were recovered and seized," officials said.

The accused was identified as Abdul Saleem, a native of the Malappuram district.

In the second case, a passenger coming from Abu Dhabi to Kochi Airport by flight 6E 1735 was intercepted at the green channel.
"During the examination of the said passenger, 4 capsules of gold in compound form weighing 1158.55 grams concealed inside his body were recovered and seized," officials said.

"On thorough checking, gold in paste form weighing 636.85 grams hidden in undergarments were also recovered from the accused," they added.
The accused has been identified as Saheer, a native of Malappuram. (ANI)