Gold worth Rs 30 lakh seized at Kochi airport

KOCHI: Customs sleuths at Kochi international airport have seized gold worth Rs 30 lakh in four separate incidents in the past two days. The officials subjected two persons landed in the airport from Dubai and Jeddah, respectively, for personal frisking leading to the recovery of 680 gm of gold concealed in their underclothes. The contraband is estimated to be worth Rs 18.36 lakh. The two belonged to Kozhikode.

In another incident, the officials intercepted two passengers landed from Abu Dhabi and Jeddah and recovered gold concealed in their underclothes. The contraband was worth Rs 11.7 lakh. According to customs commissioner Sumit Kumar, customs officials in the airport keeping are keeping a tight vigil in the wake of the spurt in the attempts to smuggle the yellow metal. “We are also subjecting suspicious passengers arriving from vulnerable spots to stringent checks,” he added.