Customs officials on Thursday seized 3.14 kilos of gold worth ₹ 1.65 crore, after detaining two persons at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad of Cyberabad.
Officers of Air Intelligence Unit in Hyderabad were on the lookout for suspects following reports that some persons were smuggling gold with the connivance of people working at COVID Testing Centre at the airport. They intercepted a 24-year-old man who flew to Hyderabad from Dubai by Air India flight.
During interrogation, the passenger admitted to have smuggled in gold. The customs authorities searched premises of the COVID testing centre and found a polythene dumped in a dustbin. On opening it, they found two pouches and four packets containing gold weighing 3.14 kilos of gold.
Based on his confession, the officers picked up an employee working in the COVID testing centre. The employee admitted that the pouches containing gold were given to him by the passenger who offered him huge money to take the gold out of the airport.
