The Customs and Central Excise department officials on Wednesday seized 15.7 kilograms of gold from two women including an airhostess in separate cases at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad.
In the first case, the customs officials seized 13 gold biscuits weighing one kilogram each worth Rs 3.76 crore from an airhostess who arrived from Dubai.
The woman was carrying the contraband in her handbags. “Initially, the woman denied carrying any items but on checking, our officials recovered the gold,” said B. B. Prasad, chief commissioner of Customs, Hyderabad at a press conference. He clarified that the airhostess was not on duty. In another case, the officials caught a woman passenger who arrived from Doha by a Qatar Airlines Flight and seized 2.7 kilograms of gold worth Rs. 78 lakhs. The woman concealed the contraband in her dress, the official said. Mr. Prasad ruled out role of any organised mafia in both these cases.
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He said 68 cases were registered and 60.26 kilograms of gold worth Rs. 17.96 crore was seized last year, while seven cases were registered since the beginning of the current financial year. He said till now the role of any organised smuggling gangs could not be established in any of the cases.