Two air passengers, who arrived here on Saturday by the Air India AI 952 flight from Dubai via Hyderabad, were detained by the Customs officials on the charge of smuggling gold from Dubai.
On a tip-off that two passengers — Mir Abbas Mahdi and Abbas Razi — had concealed contraband goods on their person/in their baggage, the Customs officials examined them. On persistent questioning and thorough examination, it was revealed that Abbas Razi, who boarded the flight at Hyderabad, had concealed one blue plastic tape wrapped packet in his trouser near the belly.
When the officials opened the packet, they found three gold bars covered with carbon paper pieces. The total quantity of gold was 2024 gm, valued at Rs.61,02,360 in the Indian market. The gold was seized by the officers of Customs, Air Intelligence Unit, Visakhapatnam International Airport.
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Mir Abbas, who was coming from Dubai to Visakhapatnam, confessed to the Customs officers that he had handed over the gold bars to Abbas Razi on board the flight at Hyderabad, when the latter boarded the flight as a domestic passenger. Abbas Razi had also admitted that he had received the gold on board the flight.
The Customs officials are investigating the case.