2 AP men arrested for smuggling gold from Middle East

According to Commissioner of Customs, Chennai International Airport, the passengers, Veeraballi Venkatramana (51) and Mahendra Valmeti (24), both from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, had arrived here from Kuwait via Muscat by an Oman Airlines flight on Saturday. When they were near the exit of the arrival hall, officers from the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs intercepted them on suspicion of carrying gold.

The passengers were frisked and their checked-in baggage was also thoroughly inspected. Inside one of the bags, officials found three silver keys that aroused their suspicion. When they checked it again, the officers found that these were gold keys coated with silver to escape detection. Besides the keys, there was also a rectangular gold bar inside the bag. The gold weighed 182 gram, valued at Rs 7.25 lakh.

In another bag, what the AIU unit found conspicuous was a hammer. This prompted the officers to examine it further. As suspected, they found two cylindrical pieces of gold, weighing 511 grams, inside the hammer. This is estimated to be worth Rs 13.1 lakh, said the Customs Commissioner.

In all, 693 grams of gold of 24 karat purity, worth Rs 20.35 lakh was seized under the provisions of Customs Act, 1962, added the statement from the Customs on Tuesday, adding that further investigation was in progress.