TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Nearly 3.5 kg of gold valued at Rs 1.1 crore was seized by the Customs Intelligence Wing at Dabolim airport, officials said. The gold was purportedly found hidden under one of the seats of a Qatar flight, however, till the time of going to the press, no arrests were made in this case.
According to sources, the Intelligence Wing of the Customs got a tip-off saying that about 17 kgs of gold will land in Goa on Friday. Accordingly, a strict check was effected on all the flights that arrived at Dabolim airport and while searching the flights, the contraband was found.
In the recent past Goa has become a major point of seizure for the precious yellow metal.
Early April saw gold worth Rs 1.70 crore from a Chennai resident at the Dabolim airport. According to Customs officials, the accused had travelled to Goa from Mumbai by an Air India plane and had been handed
over the 600 gms of gold by an international passenger at the Mumbai international airport. The Customs also informed that airports across India – not just Goa – have seen gold seizures in recent times after the Central government had hiked import duty in a bid to rein in the burgeoning trade deficit.
In July 2012-April 2013, 383 tonnes gold were imported as against 205 tonnes the previous year and the government raised the import duty on gold from 8 to 10 per cent.
