Bhubaneswar: Customs officials at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad have seized smuggled gold worth more than Rs 4.26 crore that was cleverly concealed inside a speaker box in an aircraft lavatory.
The seizure was made on Friday aboard IndiGo flight 6E-1478, which had arrived from Dubai. Acting on specific intelligence, customs officers carried out a detailed inspection of the aircraft with assistance from aircraft engineers.
During the search, officials discovered two pouches wrapped in black plastic tape hidden inside a wall-mounted speaker box located in the front lavatory of the aircraft. The speaker system is typically used for inflight announcements.
After dismantling the speaker unit, officers found the pouches concealed behind the audio components. Upon examination, the packets were found to contain 24 gold biscuits of foreign origin.
According to customs authorities, the gold biscuits were of 999.0 purity (24 carat) and had a combined weight of 2,799.3 grams, or approximately 2.8 kilograms. The seized gold was valued at Rs 4,26,89,325 in the domestic market.
Officials believe the smuggling operation may have involved an attempt to leave the gold hidden inside the aircraft structure so that it could later be retrieved by a domestic passenger or a member of the ground handling staff. However, the plan appears to have failed.
Investigators suspect that the carrier abandoned the consignment after sensing heightened security checks, as no passenger or crew member came forward to claim the concealed gold.
The recovered gold has been classified as unclaimed and has been confiscated under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.
Ahmedabad Customs has launched a detailed investigation to identify those involved in the smuggling attempt and determine whether a larger network was operating behind the operation.
The seizure highlights the continuing efforts of customs authorities to combat gold smuggling through innovative concealment methods at airports across the country.
-OdishaAge
