Customs officials at Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport have seized gold worth more than Rs 4.26 crore that was allegedly concealed inside a speaker box on an IndiGo flight arriving from Dubai. The recovery was made during an inspection of IndiGo Flight 6E-1478 on Friday, officials said.
During the inspection, the Customs authorities discovered two pouches wrapped in black plastic tape concealed inside a speaker box located in the front lavatory of the aircraft. The officers have conducted search with the assistance from aircraft engineers.
The officials said the gold had been hidden in a manner that suggested an attempt to smuggle it into India in violation of provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. “Neither passengers nor crew members came forward to claim ownership of the recovered consignment,” Customs officials said.
However, the officials seized the gold as unclaimed goods under the relevant provisions of the Customs Act and the further investigation launched probe to identify those involved in the smuggling. The probe will identify how the consignment was concealed onboard the aircraft.
The latest seizure comes weeks after Customs officials at the same airport intercepted two passengers arriving from Dubai and recovered more than 1.13 lakh sticks of foreign-origin cigarettes.
The passengers were travelling on an Emirates flight and were stopped after suspicious X-ray images of their checked-in baggage were flagged for inspection. A detailed examination led to the recovery of large quantities of concealed cigarette cartons, which were subsequently seized under the Customs Act.