Mumbai: Air passenger held for attempting to smuggle 7kg of gold

Mumbai: The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) today arrested a person for attempting to smuggle 7kg of gold out of the international airport here.

AIU recovered seven gold bars of one kg each from the passenger, who arrived from Paris. "We have arrested a passenger, Raj Vasant Jadhav, who had arrived from Paris," said Customs Commissioner A P S Suri.

"Four gold bars were concealed by Jadhav inside the soles of his shoes and three were hidden in pockets of his underpants," Suri said.

Another official said this was perhaps the first time a person attempted to smuggle gold from the French capital, which is a 'non-sensitive sector'.

"Generally, passengers arriving from Gulf countries try to smuggle gold," the official said, adding Jadhav admitted to be a carrier and said he was smuggling for monetary considerations.

He was booked under the Customs Act and the gold was seized.