Customs officers seize gold, 105 kg ephedrine

When the Customs officers in the city airport were checking the passengers who arrived from Kuala Lumpur on Sunday morning, they intercepted Kumuthamalar Ramachandran (41), a Malaysian citizen, on suspicion. She was walking hurriedly towards the exit of Customs arrival hall with two handbags.

As her replies were evasive, the officers checked her handbags and found three small pouches concealed inside. They recovered 12 gold cut bars wrapped in adhesive tapes weighing about 6.5 kg. The gold was worth Rs 2.52 crore, said the officers.

During interrogation, she said the gold was to be delivered to a person waiting outside the airport. The officers took her outside to identify the receiver. However, no one approached her even after waiting for a considerable amount of them. The gold was seized and the woman was arrested.

In another incident on Saturday, the officers of Docks Intelligence Unit, Customs, Chennai-III Commissionerate examined a consignment which was declared to contain bangles at Triway CFS based on a tip-off that a contraband was being exported to Malaysia.

On examination, it was found that elongated polythene pouches tightly packed in black hard plastic covers along the walls of the cartons contained suspicious white powder. It weighed 105 kilograms and tested positive for ephedrine. It was seized under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Ephedrine is a controlled substance and its illegal manufacture, distribution, sale, import and export is punishable under NDPS Act. Further investigation is on to nab the suspects behind thecontraband export.