Two arrested for smuggling gold worth Rs 70 lakh on flight from London

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Customs officials at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport on Sunday arrested a crew member of an Air India London to Delhi flight and the employee of a catering company for allegedly trying to smuggle gold worth over Rs 70 lakh.

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According to a report in Hindustan Times, the two men have also smuggled gold in the past worth over Rs 1 .3 crore. Acting on a tip-off, a team of customs sleuths raided a flight, which had arrived at Delhi's IGI airport from London, and intercepted a member of the cabin crew.

During a thorough search, gold in the form of bangles was recovered from the overhead luggage cabin. "Further probe revealed the involvement of a catering company employee who was also arrested. The recovered gold weighs around 1.6 kg and is valued Rs 72.47 lakh," a customs officer said

Further enquiry revealed that the two men had previously been involved in two cases of gold smuggling wherein they smuggled 3.1 kg gold worth Rs 1.3 crore.

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"The duo is being questioned to find out if they're associated with any smuggling cartel. The origin of the gold is also being looked into and it is being probed to whom it was to be delivered," the officer said.

Jayant Sahay, additional commissioner, customs, Delhi airport said that the two men were arrested and the recovered gold was seized.

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