Goa customs dept seizes 2.5 kg gold ornaments from commode of Air India flight

The Goa customs department on Monday claimed to have seized 2.5 kg gold ornaments from the commode of Air India's 'AI 994' Dubai-Goa-Bengaluru flight at Dabolim International Airport here.

After the flight landed at around 0411 hrs, customs official Babloo Kumar entered the aircraft and searched the rear toilet and seized three packets hidden in the seat cover of the commode and immediately called his seniors Sanjay Chaudhary and P. Ranjan on the flight.

Inquiries were made with the crew members, transit passengers as well as the ground staff of the airlines. They informed that they were not aware of the owner of the said bundles. They said plastic bundles were opened in the presence of the 'panchas' in the customs office at the international arrival hall.

On opening of the packages, assorted gold jewellery and three gold bars were found totally weighing 2.532 kgs and valued at around Rs. 65 lakhs.

Inquiries were made with the arrival passengers also regarding the ownership of the said plastic bundles containing assorted gold jewellery and gold bars.

However, no passenger has come forward to claim the ownership.

After taking custody of the three packets, they cleared the aircraft for departure, which was delayed by around 20 minutes. The standard departure time of the flight AI-994 is 0440hrs, while it departed at 0503hrs.

The Air Intelligence Unit of Goa Customs has seized foreign currency in two different cases worth Rs. 22 lakh early this month.

The above three cases are under investigation.