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.
