Varanasi : Customs at Varanasi Airport seized more than two kilograms of gold of foreign origin from a passenger who landed at the airport from Sharjah on Friday. A senior Customs official informed that on the basis of the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday that a passenger coming after a short stay is involved in the smuggling of gold.
A team of Customs at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi seized 2332.800 grams of 99.90 per cent pure foreign origin gold valued at Rs 1,21,30,560 from a passenger who came from Sharjah to Varanasi on flight no. IX184 of Air India Express on Thursday.
The smuggled foreign origin gold was kept in the form of 20 gold bars having marks ARG UAE 10 TOLAS 999.0, concealed in black tape and wrapt under the waist. These gold bars were recovered during the personal search of the passenger.
The accused passenger has been arrested and is being produced before Special CJM (Economic Offences), Varanasi.
Further investigation into the matter is underway. Earlier on Thursday, gold worth Rs 18.17 lakhs was seized by customs officials at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi. Weighing 349.500 grams, it was retrieved from three trolley bags of a passenger. The gold was kept in form of eight nickel-coated rods, concealed in the corners of trolley bags.