In yet another instance of attempted smuggling of gold biscuits, customs officials at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) seized gold on two instances.
The first incident took place on Saturday, when officials from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) boarded an Indigo flight which landed at the Bengaluru airport. Acting on a tip-off, they inspected the empty flight and came across an oddly sealed packet inside a life jacket.
On further inspection, they found that the unusual package contained within it 14 gold biscuits, weighing a little over 3 kilograms. It has been estimated that the biscuits were worth around Rs 1.05 crore. Officials are looking into the case with the possibility that an inside person may have been involved, who was supposed to pick up the packet allegedly ‘left’ behind by one of the passengers.
The second occasion took place on Sunday, when officials from the customs department seized 92 gold biscuits, each weighing 100 grams, estimated to be worth around Rs 3.02 crore in total, unloaded from a Singapore Airlines flight. The biscuits were concealed within the speakers of one of the passenger’s bag which was then concealed with black tape. A black bag, which had been checked-in, remained on the conveyor belt and had not been claimed by anyone, leading authorities to become suspicious about its contents. A scan of the bag’s contents revealed the presence of the gold biscuits inside the same.
On further probe, they have traced the owner of the bag: Noorulayne,a Singapore national, the last known location of whom was a hotel in Chennai, but has yet to be apprehended by officials.
Officials have notified all immigration officials to be on the lookout for the Singapore national.