At least 60 passengers, who arrived at the Tiruchi international airport from Singapore on a scheduled Air India Express flight, were detained for questioning by a special team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials on suspicion that some of them were smuggling goods. The operation continued for over five hours.
The CBI team, led by an officer in the rank of a DSP, launched the operation after the arrival of the Singapore-Tiruchi Air India Express flight around 3.30 p.m. Sources said some passengers of the flight, who had already stepped out after completion of formalities, were brought inside the international terminal building for questioning. Acting on a tip-off that a large number of ‘carriers’ had boarded the aircraft at Singapore with a plan to smuggle in articles by evading customs duty, the CBI team intercepted the passengers soon after they passed through the Customs clearance point.
Police sources said preliminary information revealed that at least 40 passengers were suspected to be ‘carriers’ ( kuruvis in local parlance) in possession of valuables that they either failed to disclose or evaded duty on. Asked if the suspected carriers were in possession of any contraband, a source at the airport said the team was examining the baggage of all passengers.
