Passenger Arrested at MIA for Smuggling 699 Grams of Gold
Mangaluru: Acting on credible intelligence that one International passenger by name Umar Farook Kannadaguli, aged about 28 years of Mannila, Bantwal, Karnataka arriving by Spicejet Flight No. SG-60 from Dubai to Mangaluru at around 18.15 hrs on 6 June 2018 would attempt to smuggle gold into the country.
The officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Regional Unit, Mangaluru, mounted surveillance at the Mangalore International Airport. On arrival of the Aircraft from Dubai, the said passenger Umar Farook Kannadaguli was identified right at the exit of the green channel, intercepted and escorted to Customs Arrival area and subjected to thorough checking.
On checking his luggage, it was revealed that he was carrying a multimedia speaker system. On opening the said multimedia speaker system it was found that 6 tola bars of gold of foreign origin were cleverly concealed inside the transformer of the said multimedia speaker system in order to avoid detection.
The said gold pieces weighed 699 grams in total and were found to be of 24 Karat purity and their current market value was placed at around 21.53 lakhs. The contraband gold was later seized by the officers of DRI under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. The passenger Umar Farook Kannadaguli was arrested for attempting to smuggle gold Tola bars into the country.
Further investigation in the case is in Progress.