The trio from Bhatkal Karnataka, had concealed 2.916 kg of gold on their persons.
Twenty five gold bars were distributed among Sakerde Ahmad and Mohammad Madani Shariff and a woman passenger Riyana. While the two men hid the yellow metal in their shoes, Riyana wrapped it around her body. The air intelligence unit of Customs stopped them at the airport on suspicion, after they landed by Mumbai-Goa Air India flight AI-984.
As per the Commissioner of Customs K Anpazhakan the gold weighing nearly three kilos is valued at Rs 75, 77, 518. The gold was handed Sanaulla Shahul Hameed Hajeeb, who had flown from Dubai to Mumbai in AI-984 flight. “The three domestic passengers boarded the flight from Mumbai and the international passenger handed over the gold to these domestic passengers enroute to Goa. Further investigation is being carried out to find out the mastermind behind the smuggling of such huge quantity of gold,” Anpazhakan said.
Recent seizures
July 8, 2014 – In the biggest haul of smuggled gold as yet, customs at Dabolim international airport seized around 20kg of gold from passengers on a flight from Qatar to Goa. The seized gold is valued at Rs 6 crore, a customs official said.
Three persons hailing from Bhatkal in Karnataka had been arrested.
24 May, 2014 – 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.
March 31, 2014 – Gold worth Rs 1.70 crore was seized from a Chennai resident at the Dabolim airport. According to Customs, 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.
