Mumbai Customs seizes Rs 69 lakhs in cash in two incidents

Mumbai: The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs, in two separate incidents, seized foreign currency worth Rs 43.9 lakh and Rs 25 lakh in Rs 2,000 notes on Wednesday. The officials have arrested four people in all.  The AIU carried out the foreign currency seizure early on Wednesday morning, wherein the bags of three passengers were checked. The passengers were later identified as Shaikh Waheed Ali, Mohammed Sohail and Shaikh Pasha, and they had arrived here from Hyderabad. “We checked Ali’s bag and recovered 1,39,000 Saudi Riyals, 5,65,000 UAE Dirhams and 14,000 Australian dollars,” said a customs official.

According to sources, the money was tightly wrapped in newspapers inside the trio’s check-in baggage. When questioned, the accused said that he had visited Saudi Arabia last week and brought the foreign currency from there. “They said they had come to Mumbai to convert the currency, expecting good returns,” said the source.

In the second case, a passenger identified as Arif Koyante, who was headed to Dubai from Mumbai, was found to be in possession of Rs 25 lakh in Rs 2,000 notes. Officials who were involved in the seizure said 1,250 such notes were kept in 52 white envelopes in his bag. “These envelopes were placed between 13 cardboard layers all of which were wrapped with readymade garments,” said the officer. He added that prima facie investigation showed that the currency was to be smuggled out of India.

All the four accused have been booked under sections of the Customs Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act.