Air passenger caught with 176 iPhones, gold

The Air Intelligence Unit of Mumbai airport’s customs department seized 176 iPhone of 5 and 6 series and gold bars worth Rs 91 lakh from a passenger in the wee hours of Monday. The passenger, identified as Sajid Yakub, was trying to smuggle the phones from Johannesburg.

Yakub, who runs a mobile phone shop in Bharuch, had flown from Johannesburg to Addis Ababa before taking a flight to Mumbai. He wa s caught on the basis of suspicion. According to sources, the AIU officials are also investigating if the seized goods were to be delivered to someone else as well as the involvement of anti-social element/s causing threat to national security. “The 176 iPhones seized were all second-hand. They were to be refurbished for sale,” said Pradnyasheel R. Jumle, the deputy commissioner of AIU. Three other persons arriving from Dubai were also detained and goods were seized from them.

In the first incident, a crude gold chain of 1,227 gram valued at Rs 33,98,238 was seized from one Drastamat Vardanyan. He was intercepted and arrested as soon as he arrived on an Emirates flight. Another passenger, identified as Khan Mohd Kaiser, who had arrived from Dubai on an Air India Express flight, was caught carrying two gold bars of 10 tola each worth Rs 6,42,435. Rameshbhai, who arrived from Dubai by a Jet Airways flight, was caught carrying four diamond-studded gold rings worth `6,20,000. Another man, Khan Jamshed Amiruddin, who was about to depart to Dubai, was intercepted and found carrying $5,000 and 8,750 UAE Dirhams.