63-year-old among two held for smuggling gold at IGIA

Customs sleuths at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) arrested two men, including a 63-year-old, on Saturday for trying to smuggle gold bars worth Rs 93 lakh.

The Pondicherry residents had come from Dubai via a Jet Airways flight.

According to the Customs officers, the duo was intercepted at Terminal 3 on the basis of intelligence inputs, just as they had crossed the green channel and were about to exit the airport.

“One of them, a 63-year-old man, was wheelchair bound, and his aide was carrying his belongings and luggage. The two were stopped and requested to cooperate in a personal search and frisking of luggage. During the search, gold bars weighing 3.5 kg were recovered from the wheelchair-bound elderly passenger, who had concealed them in a specially-designed pocket in his shorts, which he was wearing under his trousers. He had crossed the green-channel on the wheelchair,” Deputy Commissioner of Customs (IGIA)  Govind Garg said.

Garg further said that it was later revealed that the elderly man did not require the wheelchair but was only using it to avoid suspicion. The 3.5 kg gold, which was seized, was assessed to be worth Rs 92.87 lakh. Both accused have been arrested, the officer said.

“Involvement of senior citizens in smuggling is not regular. We are questioning the two to ascertain if they have smuggled gold in the past as well,” he added.