Comments
Customs officials seized contraband gold from two passengers who arrived from the Gulf countries at the Kozhikode airport on Friday.
One kg of gold was found from a Keralite passenger who arrived from Sharjah in the morning, while 2.5 kg was seized from another passenger who flew in from Saudi Arabia.
There have been a number of gold seizures at the three airports of the State in the recent months.
In September, 20 kg of gold was found concealed in the specially-made jackets worn by two veiled women at the Kochi airport. The CBI arrested three Customs officials, including a deputy commissioner, for allegedly aiding the smugglers.
The two women, travelling from Dubai, had been used as carriers by the alleged kingpin of the smuggling racket, Fayaz, who was also arrested by the CBI. Fayaz had allegedly got some 50 kg of gold smuggled in over the past six months.
The government’s raising of gold import duty to 10 per cent and stiff restrictions on imports have encouraged smuggling.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.