Customs seize gold worth Rs 1.65 crore from aircraft

The air intelligence unit (AIU) of customs at Mumbai airport intercepted gold worth Rs 1.65 crore from an aircraft and arrested one in this regard. According to sources, customs officials suspect that the arrested person is a mere gold carrier. The accused will be produced before the magistrate for judicial custody on Saturday, said officials.

The incident took place on Friday morning around 11 am. According to official sources from AIU, they were tipped off about the gold consignment by a crewmember of Singapore Airways’ flight SQ422, which was arriving from Singapore. The crew informed officials that they had noticed a passenger, Kareem Shakeel, throwing something in the front galley dustbin of the aircraft. Acting on the tip, officials recovered 52 foreign-marked gold bars of 116.6 grams each. “Their total weight was six kilograms and their market price is Rs 1.65 crore,” said officials.

After seizing the gold, officials nabbed Shakeel at the airport terminal building. During questioning, he admitted his role and was arrested under provisions of the Customs Act.

According to sources, officials suspect Shakeel had conspired with either a ground staff or a cleaner or an engineer, i.e. a person who could access the aircraft when it was in the parking bay. According to sources, there are chances that someone was supposed to collect the gold from the aircraft dustbin and take it out safely to hand it over to Shakeel later, as he couldn’t go out with the gold.