Cargo box with gold seized at RGI Airport

Hyderabad: Gold packed in a box which was to be sent to Mumbai by air cargo was seized by the security personnel at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and handed over to the Customs officials. The officials have seized the gold and are verifying the antecedents of the senders and receivers.

About two days ago, the security personnel at the airport detected a cargo box containing the gold items in an Indigo Airlines vehicle, which was moving out of the cargo gate.

The in-charge of the shift was questioned regarding the box and it was found that the box was received as a valuable cargo from a Raipur to Mumbai flight which was flying via Hyderabad on a connecting flight bound for Mumbai.

The driver of the vehicle, who had completed his shift was taking it to the gate to handover to another driver who would join the shift. On suspicion, the box was seized and handed over to the customs officials for further investigation.

Confirming the incident, a customs official said, “The gold was being sent to Mumbai by air cargo. On verification, the bills of the consignment were found to be legit. Further investigation is on to question the sender of the yellow metal, if the metal is being sent frequently and also to check if the same driver was present all the times. If everything is clear, the consignment will be released.”

Recently, the Air Intelligence Unit sleuths seized about 641 gm of gold in the form of ornaments concealed by a passenger who arrived at the RGIA in Shamshabad from Colombo in Sri Lanka.

The passenger arrived on a Sri Lankan airlines flight (UL 177) to Shamshabad. During the checking, the passenger was found  with gold around 641 gms worth about `19.97 lakh. A case was registered against the passenger and further investigation is on, said the official.