The Bengaluru Customs Unit officials at Kempegowda International Airport intercepted two passengers who arrived in the city from Dubai who were trying to smuggle iPhones, gold and cigarettes without declaration to Customs. The officials at the KIA seized crude gold chains, iPhones and cigarettes without COTPA labelling at the airport and valued the items at Rs 56.2 lakhs.
According to the official statement from Bengaluru Customs, two persons were arrested in connection to the smuggling attempt. The passengers were arriving from Dubai on Sunday, but the Customs officers intercepted in a timely manner to bust the illegal trade.
"Two pax arriving from Dubai were intercepted on 11.07.2021 who were attempting to smuggle crude gold articles, cigarettes without COTPA Labelling and iPhones without declaration to Customs. Totalling 630.26 grams of gold, 14 iPhones and 42,000 sticks of cigarettes, totally valued at INR 56.2 Lakhs, were seized from the pax and were arrested," the official statement read.
Blore Air Customs seized ?Crude Gold articles , I-Phones, Cigarettes of total Value of Rs. 56.2 Lakhs, that were attempted to be smuggled in contravention of the Law. pic.twitter.com/22GRpUL1My
— Bengaluru Customs (@blrcustoms) July 13, 2021
Customs officials have registered the case against the duo and further investigation is underway.
Mega gold smuggling racket busted
The news of this bust comes shortly after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence's Bengaluru unit nabbed a Mumbai-based kingpin, who misused the import duty exemption option of the advance authorisation scheme under Foreign Trade Policy to bring gold bars from the Gulf and sell them to illegal dealers. The gang managed to import 2,400kg of gold into the country without paying a dime in import duty, evading Rs 338 crore in customs duty over three years.
"We were stunned by the modus operandi of the fraudsters as gold bars worth over Rs 1,000 crore legally imported were being illegally diverted to gold dealers. The so-called end-product, gold potassium cyanide, was separately mixed in Gandhinagar to be exported to Dubai as a legal product, which was sent back to India via Indonesia using the ASEAN India Free Trade Agreement attracting duty exemption," explained a Bengaluru DRI investigator, TOI reported.
