In a major haul, sleuths attached to the Calicut Regional Unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 6.3 kg of gold valued at ₹3.25 crore from six passengers at the Calicut International airport.
DRI sources said that the passengers — Muhammed Shihab Pullambalavan, Safeer Chelakoden, Rashid Poolackal, Gafoor Kandy, Firos Paikkara Thody and Asker Ali Kolaparamba — arrived by an Indigo flight 6E 1843 from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Thursday. Officials have been monitoring this flight for the past few weeks and launched an operation after ensuring that the carriers had boarded the aircraft from Jeddah.
Further investigations are on to find other people involved in the smuggling attempt, sources said.
The Calicut airport has been witnessing a spurt in gold smuggling following the resumption of regular international flights from March after the lifting of COVID-19-induced travel restrictions. The airport is the second gateway, behind Chennai, for gold smuggling, in the country.
