Chennai Air Customs foils cinema style gold smuggling plot, nabs flier

CHENNAI: Hiding smuggled gold under the seat of an international flight, tracking the aircraft that was later flying in the domestic sector, booking a ticket on the same flight and picking the same seat while checking in online.

At the end of this elaborate operation reminiscent of a crime thriller, the Chennai Air Customs officials apprehended a 32-year-old man from Chennai at the domestic airport on Saturday, seizing 2.030 kg of gold worth approximately Rs 1.90 crore. Officials said the suspect is believed to be part of an international gold smuggling syndicate.

The arrest capped off a complex four-day smuggling attempt that began in Abu Dhabi. Investigations revealed the suspect smuggled the gold into Mumbai on an IndiGo flight on June 10. However, instead of carrying the gold off the plane, he allegedly hid it beneath the passenger seat he occupied during the international flight and disembarked empty-handed in Mumbai.

He then separately flew to Chennai on June 11 on another domestic flight. Meanwhile, authorities suspect the man secretly tracked the movement of the original IndiGo aircraft (on which he had hidden the gold) as it continued domestic operations within India.

After finding out that the specific aircraft would be flying from Kolkata to Chennai on the evening of June 14, the suspect allegedly flew from Chennai to Kolkata on June 13. He then booked a ticket on the same Kolkata-Chennai IndiGo flight, deliberately selecting the exact same seat where he had concealed the gold four days prior in Mumbai.

However, as intelligent as the planning and execution was, what he did not realise was that the Air Customs officials had received intelligence on the operation and had been monitoring his movements.

As the flight landed in Chennai on Saturday evening, the officials were waiting in plain clothes. As the suspect retrieved the gold from beneath the seat, concealed it in his handbag, and attempted to exit the terminal, officers surrounded and apprehended him.

The gold, valued at nearly Rs 1.90 crore, was immediately confiscated. The suspect was taken into custody for detailed interrogation at the Chennai Air Customs office. Officials are now investigating whether this was his first such operation and probing potential links to the wider smuggling syndicate.