Mumbai: The officials of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Mumbai Airport Customs have thwarted a gold smuggling bid at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) and have seized gold valued at ₹50 lakh from a passenger who had arrived from Kuwait on Monday.

The passenger had cleverly concealed the gold in bottles of mayonnaise. “Total net weight of seized nine gold cut pieces is 898 gram valued at around ₹50 lakh,” said a Customs official.

Gold Concealed In Mayonnaise Bottles

He added, “The seized pieces of gold were concealed in six mayonnaise bottles kept in his yellow-coloured suitcase. We are probing who provided the said consignment and who was supposed to receive the same in Mumbai. It has been observed in the past that people are used as carriers or mules by smuggling syndicates instead of money.”

Another Gold Smuggling Incident

On January 20, in four separate cases of gold smuggling, the officials seized gold collectively valued at ₹1.74 crore. In the said cases, three passengers had arrived from Jeddah on the same flight, while one had arrived from Dubai. The passengers had concealed gold in trolley bags and vests.

On January 16, officials of the Mumbai Zonal Unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence intercepted two passengers who arrived at Mumbai airport from Jeddah. The passengers were searched and 1kg of gold dust each worth ₹2.59 crore, in wax form, which was specially stitched in the innerwear of both passengers, was seized from each of them.