Five gold smugglers caught 3 kg gold seized

Hyderabad: Officers of Airport Intelligence Unit (AIU), Hyderabad Customs, on Wednesday arrested five gold smugglers at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and seized 3 kg gold worth Rs 96 lakh. Briefing the media on Friday at the Customs Office here, Customs Commissioner M R R Reddy said the officials had detected the gold concealed in four trolley bags brought by two carriers from Dubai to Hyderabad. They came by Emirates Flight EK 526 on Wednesday. 

The gold with aluminium coating was found to be concealed in the form of bearings inside the trolley bag wheels and in the form of wires concealed in the inner frame of the four trolley bags. Based on the information revealed by the smugglers during the interrogation, the officials conducted search operations in many houses in Old City and seized some key material from their houses.  

During the course of investigation, the officers apprehended three more persons who were part of the syndicate which was operating from Dubai and  Hyderabad. The arrested included a receiver. The modus operandi adopted by the gang was to hand over the specially made trolley bags containing the concealed gold to carriers or Hyderabad-bound gullible passengers from Dubai by giving them free Air tickets and taking care of their stay in Dubai for two  to three days. 

The receiver waiting outside the Airport would identify the carriers or gullible passengers based on photographs send through WhatsApp by the kingpin in Dubai and trolley bags would be taken over by the receiver for handing over to the kingpin’s accomplice in Hyderabad.