Hyderabad: Eleven passengers who landed at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on a Vande Bharat Mission flight coming from Saudi Arabia’s Dammam have been detained by customs officials.
The passengers were reported for allegedly smuggling gold. The flight landed at around 6 pm and passengers were detained around 7:30 pm according to officials.
According to the customs officials, passengers were carrying gold in their inner trousers which they were wearing. The total amount of gold bars seized was 28, weighing around 3.11 kg with a value of 1.66 crore.
Custom officials told Indian Express.com, “The travelers were migrant labourers belonging to different districts of Telangana. Most of them lost their jobs and were returning to the country. We suspect smugglers had handed over gold to them in return for their flight tickets and a commission of Rs 5,000 or Rs 10,000. We are investigating the matter.”
A similar incident was reported few days ago; where gold weighing 70 grams valued at 3 lakhs was seized.