In record haul, gold worth Rs 4.5 crore seized at Mumbai airport

In one of the biggest seizure in the past 10-15 years at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mumbai International Airport, the Air Intelligence Unit of Mumbai customs on Monday seized 15 kilograms of gold worth Rs 4.5 crore from a flyer.

The accused has been identified as Kim Youngin, a South Korean national, said an AIU official.

According to the official, Youngin had arrived at Mumbai airport from Hongkong on a Cathay Pacific flight on Monday evening. After getting his baggage checked, Youngin attempted to pass the green channel during which the customs officials got suspicious about him and stopped him for his personal search. During the personal search, the AIU officials recovered 15 gold biscuits each weighing a kilo from his clothes. "The accused had concealed the gold biscuit in his shirt, trouser and shoe. The biscuits were wrapped with a white material and were concealed in the pockets which were specially made in the clothes to camouflage the gold. We immediately took him into custody for further investigation," said an AIU official.

"This is the biggest haul at the Mumbai airport wherein a single passenger is carrying the huge amount of smuggled gold. We have registered a case under relevant sections and our probe is on to ascertain the exact chain of the gold smuggling from the supply to the delivery point," he said.