A unique trick to smuggle gold comes to light at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad

A unique trick for smuggling of gold has come to light at Sardar Patel international airport in Ahmedabad. 3 Kg gold has been found hidden under passenger seat no. 28B in Spice Jet flight from Dubbai. It is believed that a passenger concealed gold under seat of international flight which converts into domestic flight beyond Ahmedabad. Suppose if another passenger books this flight for domestic journey, he/she is not liable to go through custom check at next destination. In that case such passenger can easily exit the plane and the airport with possession of gold from Dubai. More details are awaited on this story.

-DeshGujarat

PTI reports:

Three gold bars, weighing as many kgs, worth Rs 80.32 lakh were seized from under a seat of a SpiceJet aircraft at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport here.

“The gold bars were found hidden beneath a seat of the flight no. 016, which landed here from Dubai last night, by the Air Intelligence Unit of Customs,” a customs official said today.

The AIU swung into action after it was alerted by the flight crew about some “suspicious object” lying under the seat.

The flight, after its stop-over at Ahemdabad, was scheduled to operate as a domestic flight today, the official said.

He said the smugglers or their carriers must have brought the consignment from Dubai but had to abandon it in the aircraft due to increased vigilance by the Customs staff at the arrival area of the international terminal.

It could be their new modus operandi to smuggle the gold bars from Dubai to Mumbai en route Ahmedabad, he said.

As the flight was scheduled to operate as domestic carrier, the persons concerned might have tried to land with the gold at Ahmedabad safely and would have sent it to another place like Mumbai, according to the official.

The seizure has been registered as unclaimed goods under the Customs Act 1962, the official said, adding, further investigation is on.