Gold chains, bars valued at over Rs 30 lakh seized

Gold chains and bars valued at over Rs 30 lakh have been seized in four separate incidents over the past two days at nearby Nedumbassery International Airport, customs officials said.
The seizures were effected yesterday and today by the air intelligence unit of the customs, they said.
In all the cases, the gold in the form of chains and bars were found concealed in their undergarments, Customs officials said.
Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar saidtheIntellegence team of the Airport Customs yesterday subjected two suspicious passengers arriving from Dubai and Jeddah to personal search.
He said 680 grams gold worth Rs 18.36 lakh was seized from the duo, both natives of Kozhikode district.

A similar modus operandi was followed today by two other passengers, who arrived from Abu Dhabi and Jeddah and gold worth Rs 11.7 lakh was seized from them, he said.

Kumar told PTI that the seizure of Rs 30 lakh gold chains and bars within two days was possible "due to the high alertness and tight vigil of the customs officials."
He said that due to rise in smuggling activities, customs officials were maintaining tight vigil at the airport and subjecting suspicious passengers arriving from vulnerable sectors to stringent checks.
The Customs had last week seized gold biscuits and bars valued at over Rs 48 lakh in separate cases at two airports in Kerala.