Drugs, gold, diamonds worth Rs 53 crore seized at Mumbai airport; 20 held

The Customs authorities have seized hydroponic weed, gold and diamonds worth over Rs 53 crore and arrested 20 persons in multiple cases over the past week at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here, officials said on Friday.

The seizures were made during various operations between November 13 and 20, an official said.

In the first set of operations, officials recovered 25.318 kg of suspected hydroponic weed (marijuana), valued at Rs 25.318 crore, in seven separate cases and arrested as many passengers.

In other operations, 26.981 kg of hydroponic weed, valued at Rs 26.981 crore, was recovered in seven cases, resulting in the arrest of eight flyers, he said.

Besides drugs, four cases of gold smuggling were detected during the same period, leading to the recovery of 551 grams of 24-carat gold valued at Rs 65.57 lakh from four passengers.

In another case, customs officials seized 469.75 carats of diamonds, including 43.5 carats of natural and 426.25 carats of lab-grown diamonds, collectively valued at Rs 54.13 lakh. The valuables had been concealed inside a passenger’s body cavity. The person was taken into custody.

Further probe in the cases is underway, the official added.