MANGALURU: Officers of Customs at Mangalore International Airport have seized about 2kg of gold powder valued over Rs 53 lakh from two passengers who arrived from Dubai. Based on behaviour and responses to specific questions, the officers zeroed in on to two passengers, who had arrived from Dubai with assorted consumer items. Since they could not provide satisfactory replies, their accompanied baggage were subjected to detailed examination.
M Subramaniyam, commissioner of customs said the examination resulted in recovery of gold in the form of coarse powder ingeniously concealed in assorted items like tooth pastes, shampoo, face cream, boost powder, Vaseline which the two passengers carried. On sustained interrogation, passengers deposed they have intentionally concealed the gold to avoid detection and to evade payment of appropriate customs duties, the commissioner noted.
Owing to the fact that passengers were not eligible passengers to import gold and since the gold was smuggled into India in contravention of provisions of Customs Act, 1962 read with Baggage Rules, 1998, the gold was seized. The passengers were arrested on Wednesday and later produced before the principal civil judge (senior division) and chief judicial magistrate, Mangaluru, who remanded them to judicial custody today for 15 days. Further investigation is on.
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