In what has become almost a regular occurrence, the Customs on Monday seized gold bars weighing 4 kg from two passengers coming from West Asian countries at the Cochin International Airport.
This time, the Customs Preventive Commissionerate intercepted a couple from Kannur. Rafeek Malliyoth and Fahina Malliyoth were stopped when they attempted to leave through the green channel after stating that they had nothing to declare.
The couple had arrived from Dubai by Emirates Flight (number EK 0530) that reached here at 9.30 a.m. Acting on a tip-off, the Customs officials stopped the couple and during the search, two gold bars each, covered in carbon paper and concealed in their person, were seized. The gold bars weighing 4 kg is estimated to fetch Rs.1.12 crore in the market.
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The seizure was supervised by Sophia M. Joy, Additional Commissioner, Customs (Preventive); C. Madhavan, Deputy Commissioner, Customs and S. Anil Kumar, Assistant Commissioner. The Air Intelligence unit of the Cochin airport also assisted in the seizure.
As many as 13 kgs of gold bars worth more than Rs. 3 crore have been seized from the airport during this month, pointing to the increase in attempts to smuggle gold.