2 held for smuggling gold worth Rs 60 lakh at airport

The Customs’ Air Intelligence unit (AIU) at Mumbai airport arrested two persons on Monday morning for allegedly smuggling gold. Officials arrested a Jet Airways passenger who landed at the city airport with gold worth Rs 60 lakh at about 7 am on Monday. Another aide of the passenger was waiting outside the airport terminal to receive the gold, said customs sources.

According to a top AIU official, Mohamnad Aslam Shaikh arrived from Riyadh by flight 9W0523 on Monday morning. He was carrying a washing machine with him, which made the AIU officials suspicious. “As Riyadh is a sensitive sector, we keep a close eye on passengers flying on this route,” said an AIU official. Shaikh reached the green channel for screening with a washing machine and when officials checked it via a scanner it found a blurred image of something that was concealed inside its motor. Officials found Shaikh had concealed 19 gold bars of 10 tolas each, totally weighing 2.204 kg, which has a market value of around Rs 60,15,862.

During the interrogation Shaikh said he was a just a carrier and he was to bring gold for the mastermind of the operation. He also said he was given a photo of one Salman Khan, to whom he was supposed to hand over the gold. According to AIU officials Khan was also shown a picture of Shaikh and was told to wait outside the airport terminal for him to receive the gold. Officials then nabbed Khan.