Air India pilot held for smuggling Rs 15 lakh gold

The air intelligence unit (AIU) of the customs department at Mumbai airport arrested an aircraft commander of national carrier Air India after the flight arrived from Jeddah on Wednesday and seized seven gold bars, collectively weighing 530gm, from him. The total value of the seized bars is Rs 15,65,567, said officials.

According to AIU sources, flight AI 932 from Jeddah had landed in Mumbai around 4.30 am on Wednesday. “The commander is a very senior crew member. So, he believed that no one would check him and he kept the gold with himself in a secretive manner. But we nabbed him due to our high-level surveillance techniques,” said a top AIU official.

According to the official, the commander was attempting to smuggle the gold by concealing it in his hang baggage and check-in luggage. Mumbai airport sources said that at the crew declaration counter, customs officials asked the captain if he had anything to declare, to which he said ‘no’ as he was sure that his luggage wouldn’t be checked. But due to his suspicious behaviour, officials again asked him the same question but the captain kept on replying in the negative. Following this, his baggage was scanned, which is when the officials came to know that he was carrying gold illegally without paying any duty.