UP Man Smuggles Gold Rods Worth Rs 45 lakh Hidden in Juicer, Held At Bengaluru Airport

A 33-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh was nabbed by the officials of the Income Tax Air Intelligence Unit for smuggling gold worth Rs 45 lakh. The man, apprehended at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, came from Sharjah and was carrying 930 grams of gold smelted into rods. The gold rods were hidden inside a blue compact manual juicer. The officials found his movement suspicious and interrogated him. Once they examined the juicer, they found the rods, one small and one big, fitted into the juicer, reported The Times of India. The smuggling attempt occurred when the Air Arabia flight G9 496 touched down at 2:50 am on Tuesday.

Further investigations are underway. Customs officials are trying to find out whether the 33-year-old man was operating alone or is a part of a bigger smuggling nexus. The suspect, after completing all legal procedures, was arrested on charges of customs duty evasion and gold smuggling.

In a similar incident that occurred in September at the Bengaluru airport, Customs officials, following a tipoff, arrested a passenger of the IndiGo flight coming from Dubai, for smuggling gold roughly worth Rs 61 lakhs. The passenger had hidden the consignment under his seat. On cutting open the packet, officials found around 29 pieces of gold paste and gold sticks. The packet contained almost 600 grams of gold sticks and around 700 grams of gold paste.

Another such incident was reported from Mumbai airport. The Customs officials apprehended a group of passengers who were carrying 3.8 kilograms of gold, worth around Rs.1.52 crores. The gold was hidden in various articles such as coffee flasks, hair clutches, and footwear. The group had arrived in Mumbai from Sharjah.

Recent months have seen an uptick in cases of gold being smuggled in from cities in the UAE.

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