Man held for bid to smuggle gold in powder form

The Customs sleuths at Coimbatore International Airport on Monday detained a passenger who attempted to smuggle around 878.21g of gold in powder form by concealing the same using fake bandages around ankles. Abdul Kareem, 38, from Nilambur in Malappuram district of Kerala, landed in custody of the Customs on arrival here from Sharjah in an Air Arabia flight at 4.30 a.m.

During a routine checking, the Customs team found two bandages fastened around the passenger’s both ankles. When interrogated in detail, the passenger confessed to his attempt to smuggle gold in powder form. The powdered gold was mixed with the semi-solid chemical paste tied around the ankles using cotton bandage.

A goldsmith was employed to separate the gold powder from the chemical mix. The semi-solid mixture weighed 2.23 kg and 878.21 g of gold was separated after removing impurities. The Customs officials said that the seized gold was valued at ₹ 26,34,630 as per market price.

Kareem was running a cleaning service firm based at Dubai for past three years, said officials. They added that Kareem was a first time offender and the gold he attempted to smuggle was his own. He had purchased it from Dubai.

The seizure was effected by a team headed by Assistant Commissioner of Customs Roy Joseph, Superintendents Sreenivasan Venkatesan, H. Jayaraj, inspectors Anil K. Pandey, Rajnish Mishra, Rohit Singh and Head Havildars Thangaiyan and Mahendran.

As a passenger who used similar modus operandi was recently held in Bengaluru airport, the Customs sleuths could easily figure out the technique.

A case has been registered against the passenger under provisions of the Customs Act as the value of the seized gold crossed ₹ 20 lakh. Sources said that he was eligible to be released on the strength of two sureties and payment of ₹ 25,000 by each surety.