VASCO: Customs officials seized 1086 grams of gold worth over Rs 31 lakhs at Goa International Airport on Tuesday.
On arrival of Kuwait-Goa-Chennai Air India Flight AI 976 on December 25, officers of Goa Customs headed by Assistant Commissioner of Customs N G Patel under the supervision of Additional Commissioner of Customs T R Gajalakshmi who rummaged the aircraft recovered assorted gold jewellery weighing 1086 grams valued at Rs 31.03 lakhs which was kept in a plastic carry bag and was placed in the toilet of the aircraft.
The said modus-operandi was to pass the gold jewellery to some domestic passenger boarding from Goa. The Customs officers inquired about the ownership of gold from the passengers but no passenger came forward to claim the ownership. The said gold was seized under the Customs Act 1962. The whole exercise was conducted under the overall guidance of R. Manohar, Commissioner of Customs. Further investigation is under progress.
Officials informed that Goa Customs Airport has seized 7.145 kg gold valued at Rs 2.14 crores and foreign currency worth Rs 36.38 lakhs and commercial goods in trade quantity worth Rs 38.09 lakhs since April 2018.
