Man held at IGI airport for smuggling Iridium powder

Faiz Ahmed Abdul Jabbar Ghawte, who had come from Hong Kong, was booked on October 19 by customs department for smuggling of 2 kgs of suspected Iridium powder, concealed in a specially designed zipped pockets in his inner vest and trouser, custom officials said in a statement today.

Iridium is a rare metal and its powder is commonly misused as adulterant for gold. It is difficult to differentiate between original and fake gold through naked eyes once the powder is applied on a metal or ornament.

The market value of seized Iridium powder was Rs 40 lakh. Along with this, he was also carrying cloth fabric worth Rs 59,000 and a luxury mobile phone.

The goods have been seized and the passenger has been arrested as per the provisions of Customs Act, they said.

Faiz is suspected to be involved in many cases of smuggling of branded watches and jewellery, according to the customs officials.

The officials claimed that Faiz was using an unique modus operandi with his contacts in Delhi for smuggling.

"Faiz and his aides were communicating through Multi Media Message (MMS) service to avoid detection of their mobile phone communications by sleuths. We have found various sound clips from his phones," a custom department official said.

He said the agency was closely monitoring his movement which resulted in his arrest.

Further investigations are under progress, the official said.