Gold, US dollars seized at Chennai airport, 3 held

The detained were identified as Narashimalu of Andhra Pradesh and Sulthan (63) of Chennai. Narashimalu arrived from Kuala Lumpur on a Batik Air flight that landed around 10.30 pm on Thursday. When Customs officials raised suspicions over the ‘medical’ belt he was wearing, he told them that his life would be in danger if he removed it.

Then, the officials with the help of a medical team removed the belt and found 272 grams of pure gold worth Rs 8.26 lakh hidden in it. In another case, the customs officials found that Sulthan, who arrived in the Air India’s Dubai-Chennai flight around 5 am, was carrying 500 grams of gold worth Rs 15 lakh hidden in the suitcase.

Meanwhile, Customs officials seized Rs 10.2 lakh worth US dollars from a passenger, who was about to board a flight to Singapore, early on Friday morning.

Mohammed Khan (39) of Chennai came to board the flight. When the officials checked his baggage, they found a secret chamber filled with American dollars.

As he failed to provide the source of the money, he was detained.

Meanwhile, officials at the Tiruchy airport detained Nizam Maideen, Masar Hussain, Mohammed Asick and Abdul Haaris, all from Chennai, and seized 1.8 kg gold from them.