In separate incidents, Customs Officials of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) seized smuggled gold bars and biscuits worth a little over Rs.1 crore at the international airport here on Sunday.
The officials found a gold bar and eight gold biscuits abandoned inside the toilet near the immigration area during an inspection on Sunday morning.
The gold bar and biscuits weighing nearly 1.80 kilograms were kept inside a purse and dropped in the flush tank by unknown persons. The worth of the seized valuables was Rs.47.34 lakh, airport sources said.
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Three overseas flights – Sri Lankan Airlines, Tiger Airways, and Air Asia – had arrived at Tiruchi airport in quick successions at that time.
In another incident, AIU officials held an air traveller after he was found smuggling two gold bars. The traveller, Sowjeeth Khan of Chennai, arrived in Tiruchi from Kuala Lumpur by an Air Asia flight, sources said.
Officials who scanned his hand luggage found a rectangular shaped packet wrapped with a tape. Two gold bars of nearly two kilogram worth about Rs.52.80 lakh were found in the packet. Sowjeeth Khan was detained and the valuables were seized.
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A few days ago, the AIU officials found three gold pieces weighing three kilogram abandoned inside the toilet of the international airport here. The three pieces were found wrapped with white tapes and placed on the window. The identity of the person who had abandoned the valuables inside the toilet had not been established.