Hyderabad: Customs officials at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) on Saturday seized 21 kgs of gold and diamonds from cargo. The seized gold was being without documents to Mumbai from the cargo Shamshabad here.
Based on specific intelligence that certain foreign origin gold bars without proper documentation are being clandestinely moved from Hyderabad to Mumbai and Jaipur via Indigo flight, officers of Hyderabad Customs conducted a thorough verification of suspected consignments.
at Cargo premises , Air Cargo Complex, Shamshabad.
According to the sources, the verification revealed that the consignments carried various ornaments of gold, gold bars of foreign origin and cut pieces of 999 purity, loose diamonds, precious and semi-precious stones, stainless steel watches, platinum tops and antique coins without proper documentation.
The entire consignments were seized under the provisions of Customs Act 1962 and CGST Act 2017.
The total weight of Gold bars seized is 2.37Kg. The total weight of Gold ornaments seized is 5.63Kg. The entire value of seized consignments is Rs 6,62,46,387. Further investigations are being conducted. The entire operation was conducted by Gopi Donthireddy, IRS, Deputy Commissioner Customs, Air Intelligence Unit.
This was the first major seizure since resuming of air operations at the RGIA. The air operations were suspended for a few weeks from March due to lockdown declared by the Central government to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Of the 21 kgs of gold and diamonds, two kgs were in the form of biscuits while the remaining were ornaments weighing 19 kgs. The cost of the seized ornaments was over Rs 9.4 crore.
The gold and diamonds were first brought to Hyderabad from Middle-East and while attempting to transport it to Mumbai from the domestic cargo at RGIA, officials seized it while screening the boxes.
Customs officials said efforts were on to identify the persons behind the incident and added that the gold was brought to the city through courier.