VASCO: In a smuggling attempt, the Air Intelligence Wing of the Commissionerate of Customs Goa Unit on Sunday seized 698 gms of gold worth Rs 18.63 lakh from a Uttar Pradesh native at the Dabolim Airport. According to officials of Goa Customs, during arrival of Air Arabia flight G9-492 to Goa from Sharjah and based on the inputs provided by other agency, they intercepted an international passenger (name and details withheld) native of Sharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and recovered 6 gold bars of ten tolas each.
“The passenger had concealed smuggled gold in the battery compartment of LED search light kept in the check in baggage” said Assistant Commissioner of Customs Gaurav Kumar Jain.3 The gold has been seized and is liable for confiscation under the sections 110 and 111 of the Customs Act 1962, further investigation is under progress. Meanwhile, this is the eighth seizure case made by the Air Intelligence Unit of Goa Customs at Dabolim Airport since April 2017. In last one month, Customs has overall seized around 3.1 kilograms of gold worth Rs 82 lakh and foreign and Indian currencies worth Rs 40.26 lakh.
