Custom officials seize gold worth Rs 48.50 lakh at Goa airport

The international passenger had arrived at the Goa airport from Muscat in Oman via an Oman Air flight and was carrying Gold plates collectively weighing 1.6 kgs worth Rs 48.50 lakh

Custom officials seize gold worth Rs 48.50 lakh at Goa airport

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On May 21, 209, Customs officials at the Dabolim International Airport in Goa seized gold worth Rs 48.50 lakh from a passenger who arrived at the Goa Airport from Oman on Tuesday, the officials said. The accused has been identified as Moseen Bepari, a resident of North Goa District, and is being questioned, an official statement said.

"Gold plates collectively weighing 1.6 kgs were packed in a plastic bag which was concealed in the waistband of his jeans and soles of shoes," the statement said.

The international passenger had arrived at the Goa airport from Muscat in Oman via an Oman Air flight.

In a similar incident that took place on May 7, 2019, a Mumbai-based businessman was detained by Customs officers at Pune airport for smuggling gold worth Rs 31.13 lakh in his wig. The man was identified as Shahzad Baba Miya Momin, 34, from Null Bazaar.

Senior Inspector, Customs, Amzad Shaikh said, "Momin runs a fruit business in the city of Mumbai and five days ago he had visited Dubai. On Monday at around 10 am, he returned to India travelling by an Air India flight number IX-212 at the Pune airport. We found his movements suspicious and then rank a check on his profile and then his belongings."

He added, "We noticed he was wearing a wig and asked him to remove it. Initially, he refused to do so but we forcibly took it off and found a black coloured belt with a polythene bag in it. Upon opening it we found gold that weighed around 957.10 gm. It is estimated to be priced at Rs 31.13 lakh. Momin could not give us a believable reason for him smuggling the gold and we registered a case against him." Read the full story here.

With inputs from IANS