Mangalore: Smuggling in style! Gold as belt buckle, rods in hair styler seized at airport

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Feb 14: The officers of customs at Mangalore International Airport on Thursday February 13 thwarted yet another attempt to smuggle gold by a passenger.

This time, the customs officers seized a gold buckle set and two gold rods totally weighing 1022.07 grams from passenger identified as Sheminadh Puthen Purayil, a resident of Kannur, Kasargod.

The gold, altogether valued at Rs 30,91,732, was in the form of a leather belt buckle set and rods concealed inside a hair styling crimper set which were found in the passenger's suitcase.

Sheminadh arrived at Mangalore International Airport from February 13 at around 7.25 am by Air India Express flight IX814 from Dubai.

As media release from the customs stated that while frisking the passenger with hand-held metal detector, the customs officer grew suspicious about the buckle set on the leather belt worn by him. The X-ray image showed the presence of high density metal. When asked if the buckle was made of gold or if he had any other item to be required to be declared to the customs, he replied in the negative, and the same was evident from the baggage disembarkation slip also.

However, on rubbing the buckle set, its coating scraped off indicating the presence of yellow metal, the release stated. Apart from this, the passenger was also found to be carrying a hair styling crimper set wherein two yellow coloured metal rods wrapped in black plastic covered were found concealed in two cylindricall tube-like parts of the hair styling set.

Later, a jewellery assayer confirmed and certified that the buckle set and the yellow coloured metal rods were made of gold.

The operation was conducted under the supervision of Krishna Kumar Prasad, assistant commissioner of customs at the airport.

The statement of the passenger was recorded, after which he was arrested and produced before the magistrate who remanded him in judicial custody.

Further investigation is in progress under the guidance of D Purushottam, commissioner of customs.

The officers of customs at Mangalore International Airport have detected several cases of smuggling of gold through various modus operandi, such as concealment of gold in the forme of wire in the beading of suitcase, in food cans, LED lights, electric stoves, shaving equipment, rechargeable battery etc. As a result the officers have seized 7618.01 grams of gold valued at Rs 2,28,25,769 in just one-and-a-half months of this year.