Gold worth Rs 82 lakh seized at city airport

On Saturday night, AIU officers intercepted Mohamed Bayas Ali (21), Mohamed Ansar (22) and Asaruthin (28) from Ramanathapuram, who reached here from Colombo by Air India flight. They were found to be carrying gold in rubbery form in their rectum. Customs said they were found carrying 895 gram gold of 24K purity, valued at Rs 29.5 lakhs.

In another case on the same night, the officers intercepted Nizamuddin (29) of Kadapa, who had landed from Dammam, Saudi Arabia via Bahrain on a Gulf Air flight. When they searched his checked-in luggage, the officers found four gold bars of 10 tola each and a 100 gram bar, all of 24K purity. The gold was concealed in a SIM card cutter. In all, 566 grams of gold valued at Rs 18.64 lakhs was seized from Nizamuddin.

Earlier on Saturday, following an alert they received, officers from AIU caught Sahul Hameed (35) and Mohammed Esoof (47) from Chennai, who had arrived from Kuala Lumpur by Air Asia flight. The officers found four cylindrical gold rods concealed in a pasta maker machine and one gold bracelet in their checked-in baggage. The agency said 1.028 kg gold of 24K purity, valued Rs 33.93 lakh, was recovered. The gold in all these cases were seized under Customs Act, 1962.