The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Tuesday seized 11.1 kg gold from a female passenger at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. Authorities said that the gold was worth Rs 3,63,52,500 and added that an additional amount of Rs 1.5 crore in foreign currency, was also seized from the hotel that she was staying in.
Media reports stated that she had arrived at the airport in Shamshabad on an emirates flight and had travelled business class from Dubai. She was stopped at at the exit gate at around 3 am, based on a tip-off.
“There was specific intelligence about the female passenger carrying gold from Dubai to India. The foreign-marked gold was concealed in specially made cloth pockets and socks along with the foreign currency of around Rs 4.25 lakh. The foreign currency was in the form of Singapore dollars and UAE dirhams. The foreign currency seized at the five-star hotel was the sales proceeds of gold. She had exchanged Indian currency for foreign currency, to carry it out of the country, purchase the gold and smuggle it to India. She was making a minimum of Rs 3 lakh profit selling a kg of gold,” a senior official from DRI, Hyderabad told Deccan Chronicle.
Hyderabad: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), today, seized 11.1 kg gold worth Rs 3,63,52,500 from a woman passenger at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Rs 1.5 crore worth of foreign currency from the hotel the woman was staying in. pic.twitter.com/kxGQUGXSXb
— ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2019
A case was registered under the Customs Act,1962, and DRI officials said that further investigation was underway. They were also attempting to ascertain if the accused was part of a larger nexus or a bigger racket.
Just earlier this month, a passenger was caught smuggling gold bars worth more than Rs 1 crore at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad after attempting to hide 33 gold bars in a cloth that was taped to his waist and in his shoes.
Arriving in Hyderabad from Singapore, he reportedly tried to escape the customs officials, who caught him after they noticed that he was walking in a strange manner. On checking, they found gold in his shoes and the cloth around his waist. Suresh was apprehended by the Air Intelligence Unit. According to officials, the gold bars weighed about 3.3 kilograms and were said to be worth more than Rs 1 crore.