Mangaluru: Customs officials at the Mangalore International Airport (MIA) intercepted a passenger and seized 633 grams of smuggled gold worth Rs 25,57,320 from his possession on Tuesday, February 11.
The accused has been identified as Saifudheen Thekkil Pazhevalappil (23), a resident of the Kasargod district. Joint Commissioner of Mangaluru Customs Joannes George told reporters on Tuesday, that the gold was found in paste form mixed with gum and concealed as four capsules in the accused’s rectum. The gold has been seized under the Customs Act, 1962. When the accused was produced before the court, he was granted judicial custody till February 25, he added.
Giving details of smuggling cases over the last nine months, George said, “From April 2019 to January 2020, the Air Customs at Mangaluru has seized gold worth Rs 6.38 crores from a total of 52 registered smuggling cases. The tightened anti-smuggling activities of the department have resulted in the seizure of 17.65 kgs of gold and 10 arrests. Besides this, illicitly possessed foreign currency valued at Rs 33.48 lakhs were also seized from seven passengers during this period.”
A total of 3,529 flights and 5,37,507 passengers were cleared and duty of Rs 3.59 crores was collected, including fine and penalty collected from the offenders. The customs also disposed of confiscated gold weighing 23.76 kgs which fetched Rs 9.54 crores this fiscal year till January 2020, he added.
