Video: Mumbai Airport Customs arrest two foreign nationals for smuggling USD 90,000 hidden in books, 2.5 kg gold

In two separate incidents on January 22 and 23, Mumbai airport customs seized a whopping sum of 90,000 USD (approx Rs 73 lakh) hidden in books along with over 2.5 kg of gold in paste form. Both passengers were detained by the Customs department after being stopped at the airport, according to ANI.

Authorities have released a video in which they can be seen leafing through a book and discovering two books with 100 dollar bills concealed inside. According to reports, they took a total of 73.5 lakh Indian rupees from one of the passengers. Both of the alleged passengers have been taken into custody by the authorities. More details on this await.

However, the Mumbai airport customs frequently seize significant sums of money and other items from foreign visitors. Three members of a family travelling from India to Dubai on Fly Dubai flight FZ 446 were delayed in a targeted operation by the Mumbai Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) in November 2022. They took money from the family members totaling 4,97,000 USD, or roughly Rs. 4.1 crore. The detained suspects were taken into custody for trial.

Another incident involved two passengers who were deboarded from a SpiceJet flight and handed over to security personnel for their aggressive and inappropriate actions. On social media, a video of the incident showing the arguing passengers and an air hostess during a flight from Delhi to Hyderabad has surfaced.

#WATCH | Mumbai: On Jan 22 & 23, Mumbai Airport Customs intercepted two foreign nationals in two separate cases and seized 90,000 USD concealed in pages of books and over 2.5 kg of gold in paste form respectively. Both the passengers have been arrested: Customs pic.twitter.com/8Nnh4rR5qg

— ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2023

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(With inputs from ANI)