Most gold seizures at Chennai and Calicut airports this year: FM Sitharaman

Before the pandemic, in 2019-20, the highest seizures in terms of combined weight were in Delhi and Mumbai airports, at 494 kg and 403 kg

Airports in the south, such as Chennai, Calicut, Trichy and Cochin, have witnessed the highest amount of smuggled gold seizures by customs and other authorities so far this year, Finance Minister Nirmala  Sitharaman informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

In a written reply to Member of Parliament John Brittas, Sitharaman said till November of the current fiscal year (2021-22), about 130 kg of gold was seized at Chennai airport, the highest among 21 major airports for which data was available. This was followed by Calicut, at about 28 kg. Relatively tiny Trichy airport saw the same amount of gold seized –