PANJIM: Goa Customs sleuths on Sunday thwarted a major attempt to smuggle gold in an Air India flight at the Dabolim Airport.
When the Air India Flight AI-994 arrived on Sunday, the officers of Air Intelligence Unit of Goa Customs headed by the Assistant Commissioner Y B Sahare, under the supervision of Pradnyasheel Jumle, Joint Commissioner of Customs, Goa, rummaged the aircraft and found a pouch containing three gold bars weighing 992 gms each and valued at Rs 1,11,58,884 from the aircraft’s rear toilet. The pouch with gold bars was hanging inside the cavity behind the commode in a blind area of the aircraft. The officers of Air Intelligence Unit inquired about the ownership of gold from the passengers but nobody came forward to claim it. It is a common practice adopted by the smugglers to outsmart the Customs officers. The gold was seized under the provisions of the Customs Act 1962. The exercise was conducted under the guidance of Mihir Ranjan, Commissioner of Customs, Goa. Further investigation is under progress.
It is pertinent to note that since April 2019, AIU of Goa Customs has seized gold worth Rs 2.88 crore.
