Team Herald

Vasco: The air intelligence wing of the Commissionerate of Customs, Goa Unit, seized 2 kg crude gold worth Rs 54.28 lakh which was being smuggled by a Kerala native through Goa International Airport at Dabolim, on Sunday.

Goa Customs officials said that based on intelligence input and customer profiling, they intercepted an international passenger (name and details withheld) who had arrived at Goa by Air India Flight AI-984 from Dubai at 4.30 am and was detained on the basis of suspicion. 

“The passenger had opted to walk through the green channel and had declared the value of dutiable goods being imported as ‘NIL’. During the course of screening the intelligence officer recovered gold bars totally weighing 2 kilograms valued at Rs 54.28 lakh. The recovered gold is seized under Sections 110 and 111 of the Customs Act, 1962. The passenger has been placed under arrest and further investigation is in progress,” the official said.

Meanwhile, in another seizure, Customs officials seized assorted Cigarettes worth Rs 4.36 lakh from two international passengers. Both the passengers are Kerala natives and arrived in Goa from Sharjah by Air Arabia flight (G9-492) at 5 am. Goods have been confiscated and passengers were released after collecting personal penalty. Further investigation is under progress.