Gold smuggled on board Mihin Lanka flight seized

In a major crackdown on gold smuggling, 31.75kg of gold was seized from 10 passengers who arrived at the Madurai airport in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu by two international flights, including a Mihin Lanka flight, Indian Directorate of Revenue Intelligence said.

DRI Chennai zone officials along with the Tuticorin and Madurai units seized the gold that were smuggled in the two flights which landed, DRI said in a release on Sunday.

The passenger manifesto of Mihin Lanka Flight, carrying passengers from Sri Lanka, Singapore and Bangkok, and the SpiceJet flight from Dubai, which arrived at the Madurai airport, was thoroughly scrutinized, it said.

During surveillance of these passengers, DRI officials found that some of them brought common clothes, cell phone, cigarettes and alcohol. However, they concealed gold in the baggage so that it does not get detected by the customs, the release said.  (PTI)