By Anil Mathews (ScrapMonster Author)
October 12, 2015 08:19:00 AM
A woman passenger was held at Jaipur Airport for smuggling 2.5 kilograms of gold worth nearly Rs 62 lakhs, concelaed in the transformer stamping of a microwave.Woman passenger held for smuggling 2.5 kg gold concealed in microwave
MUMBAI (Scrap Monster): Customs officials at Jaipur Airport held a woman passenger on Sunday early morning for attempting to smuggle nearly 2.5 kilograms of gold hidden in the transformer stamping of a microwave. The passenger, identified as Heena Javed Rindani, hails from the city of Mumbai.
According to senior customs officials, they had information about the woman passenger who travelled from Abudhabi to Jaipur. However, it was not sure where the gold was being hidden. The officials, who interrupted the passenger on exit, conducted thorough scanning of her baggage to find the gold concealed inside the microwave. According to assessors, the concealed gold weighed almost 2.561 kilograms, with a market value of nearly Rs 62 lakhs.
Upon interrogation, the woman passenger admitted that she had acted as a carrier and was offered handsome commission for the smuggling act. She further stated that this was her first journey to Jaipur and that she had not travelled by this route before. As per customs officials, there are several shops in Dubai where gold is available for purchase in different sizes and shapes. The airport has reported similar incidents before also, where gold was smuggled in the form of nib of pen and zip of trouser.
Customs officials stated that Dubai and Singapore continue to be the major supply centers for gold smugglers. There exists a price difference of nearly Rs 5 lakh on every kilogram of gold purchased in India as against those purchased in Dubai, even after payment of customs duty. Evasion of 10% legal customs duty will further inflate the price difference. According to officials, this is the main reason why people tend to resort to various tactics to escape from payment of customs duty during smuggling.
Meantime, data published by the Direct Revenue Intelligence (DRI) under the Indian Customs Department indicates that gold smuggling has shot up at country’s airports during the past several months.