Customs Officers At IGI Airport Seize Rs 7.5 Crore Worth Of Gold From Two Kenyan Citizens

The 19 gold bars collectively weighed about collectively weighing 15.57 kg, the tariff value of the seized gold is around Rs. 7.5 crore.

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New Delhi: Customs officers at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport made one of the biggest seizures of gold Monday after they seized Rs 7.5 crore worth of gold weighing about 15 kgs from two Kenyan men, PTI reported.

The accused were intercepted after they arrived from Nairobi via Addis Abba. They were searched and the authorities found 19 gold bars concealed in hidden pockets.

They seized gold collectively weighed 15.57 kg and cost around Rs 7.5 crore, an official told PTI.

One of the passengers admitted to having visited India on multiple occasions, about four to five times in the past, each time carrying gold. The other accused was a first-timer.

They have not been arrested yet as an investigation is underway, the official said according to the PTI report. 

Customs officers at the Indira Gandhi International airport say that Dubai is the preferred location for smuggling gold into India and that Nairobi is a new route.

"This is a new route. The involvement of Kenyan nationals in gold smuggling is not very common too," a senior official said.

Last week, over two kilograms of gold worth Rs 1.14 crore was seized from passengers in two different incidents at the airport here, Customs department officials said on Saturday.

In the first incident, the department officials intercepted a passenger who arrived here from Dubai on Friday and recovered gold concealed in his inner garments during a personal examination, an official release from Commissioner of Customs Chennai Airport said.

In the second incident on Saturday, the sleuths intercepted a man on arrival from Sharjah and seized gold paste packets wrapped in adhesive tape concealed in his inner-wear.

A total of 2.36 kg of gold worth Rs 1.14 crore was recovered from the two passengers under relevant sections of the Customs Act, 1962.