Smuggled gold worth ₹8 crore seized in Vijayawada

VIJAYAWADA: The Customs here has made a huge seizure of smuggled gold worth ₹8 crores in an early morning operation.

Commissioner of the customs commissionerate (preventive) K. Engineer said the carriers of smuggled gold were split into teams and travelling in a car and in private buses from Chennai to Vijayawada. “They were waylaid at Kaza Toll Plaza and Bollapalli Toll Plaza in the wee hours of Thursday. A huge quantity of gold was seized from them,” he said.

The commissioner said 13 kg of gold was seized from the gang. Their foreign imprints were deliberately erased to try and camouflage the process of smuggling. “Four persons carrying gold with them were arrested under provisions of the Customs Act 1962. They have been remanded to judicial custody by the court of the special judge that tries economic offences in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.”

In the year 2022-23 and 2023-24, the Vijayawada customs (preventive) commissionerate made seizures of smuggled gold of a total of 59.5 kg valued at ₹32.8 crore. Gold smuggling is massive but seizures are rare and often namesake across the customs zones.