2 men arrested for smuggling gold at IGIA

The customs officers at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Saturday caught two men for allegedly trying to smuggle gold worth over 50 lakhs into the country by hiding it in the transformer of a microwave oven. Both were arrested and the gold was seized from them.

According to the officers, the two men, aged 21 and 34, arrived at the IGI airport from Dubai in different flights. When the duo was about to exit the green channel, it was then that they were stopped by the customs sleuths deployed at the terminal 3 and were asked to cooperate for a thorough frisking.

"It was then, while checking their baggage, that a microwave transformer was recovered in which two gold cylinders were found concealed. The market value of these gold cylinders weighing 2,000 grams is worth Rs 56.6 lakh," an airport official said.

The officials said that both of them were asked about the gold but since they could not provide any satisfactory reply, they were arrested under the provisions of Section 104 of the Customs Act, 1962, and the gold was seized.

Further investigation is underway, the officer said. Customs at the IGI airport has stepped up vigil following repeated cases of gold smuggling busted at the airport recently.