63 kg of gold hidden in gadgets uncovered at Vizag airport

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, June 23

Authorities at Visakhapatnam airport in Andhra Pradesh have seized 63 kg of gold from 53 passengers who had concealed the gold bars in a variety of electronic gadgets —the biggest single-day haul.

The officials of the Chennai unit of the Directorate of the Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a major smuggling racket to recover gold estimated to be worth Rs 17 crore being sneaked into the country from Singapore and Malaysia by passengers who arrived in three international flights on Sunday. The gold bars were hidden in laptops, DVD players, microwave ovens and other electronic items.

A majority of passengers were tourists from Madurai, Chennai, Pondicherry, Coimbatore and Thiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. Most were teachers and bank employees on a tourist jaunt to Asian countries. Almost everyone had brought a laptop, a micro oven, music system or a DVD player.

 Assisted by the Customs department, DRI officials arrested some 55 people, most of them from Tamil Nadu.

The first group of 20 passengers arrived in an Air Asia flight from Malaysia late Sunday night and was found carrying electronic goods ranging from television sets and microwave ovens to DVD players and phones.

Authorities intercepted them while they were waiting to collect their baggage. A check revealed the gold bars hidden in them.

Minutes later, another batch of 10 landed in the Silk Air flight from Singapore with a similar luggage. Another group of 25 arrived by the Malindo flight from Malaysia soon after.

All those detained are currently being questioned to find the names of their handlers and the modus operandi.

The latest haul is the fourth such incident this year: some 11 kg of the yellow metal have been seized at Visakhapatnam airport till June 20.