A special police team led by District Police Chief Sujith Das S. seized 1.884 kg pure gold valued at ₹1.17 crore from a woman who arrived at the Calicut International Airport at Karipur from Jeddah on Tuesday evening.
Shabna, 33, from Kunnamangalam near Koduvally had smuggled in the gold by evading detection by the Customs at the airport. The police said she had hidden the gold cleverly in her dress.
She landed on SpiceJet flight SG 54 at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday and came out of the airport terminal by 7.15 p.m. after emigration and customs clearance.
However, a police team waiting outside took her into custody on the basis of a tip-off. Although the police questioned Shabna for hours, they could not find the gold. She persistently refused to admit that she had gold with her and that she was a carrier.
A thorough examination of her body and her luggage yielded nothing for the police. However, the police recovered the contraband from the car she got into at Karipur. She had reportedly abandoned the gold in the car’s left door pocket.
She later admitted to the police that she had hidden the gold in her dress and shifted it to her handbag after landing at the airport. She reportedly dumped it in the car door pocket when the police approached her.
Mr. Das said the gold seized would be produced in court, and a detailed report would be given to the Customs for further investigation.
This was the 17th case of gold detection by the police team outside the airport terminal this year. In about a year, the police seized smuggled gold in 107 cases outside the airport and busted seven gold dacoities in the district.
