Maharashtra: NCB nabs smuggler with Rs 1.80 crore worth gold at Nagpur airport

The gold was smuggled in the form of gold paste. Pic/NCB

The Mumbai zonal unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday said that it intercepted an alleged international gold smuggler at Nagpur airport and seized gold worth around Rs 1.80 crore from the suspect.

In an official statement, the NCB said, in pursuance of intensive operational activity and active intelligence, the NCB Mumbai intercepted an international gold smuggler along with 3.35397 kgs of gold at Nagpur airport. The person was coming from Saudi Arabia and was to handover the seized gold to another person. However, due to heightened security and recent seizures of drugs and other prohibited items at Mumbai and other major international airports in the region, a plan was schemed to smuggle a consignment through any other international airport.

The NCB said that based on the input, additional information was analysed gradually which led to infer that an Indian person working in Jeddah was to be tasked for the job. On 08/05/2023, specific information was figured out wherein the Indian person named A.Khan was identified who was returning from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Nagpur and accordingly his flight detail was also identified. Immediately, a team of NCB officials moved to the Nagpur airport and in the intervening night between May 8 and May 9, the Jeddah-Nagpur flight arrived.

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It said that the Nagpur customs department was requested to stop the person from leaving the airport. When searched by NCB Mumbai team, seven small white packets were found to be carefully stitched along the inner side of his jeans pants. When checked, a semi liquid paste of golden colour was recovered from each packet which the person A.Khan confessed to be gold paste.

"Thorough search was made to ensure that no other illegal items were concealed. When all the gold paste material was extracted, it weighed a total of 3.35397 kgs. A.Khan was a work permit based skilled labourer, electrician by profession and was employed in a Saudi Arabia based company for the last 3 years. The case was handed over to Nagpur customs for detailed investigation being a competent authority. The value of the seized property amounts to around Rs. 1.80 crore," an NCB official said.