Ahmedabad Customs confiscated 233 grams of 24-carat gold valued at over Rs 34.29 lakh from a female passenger who tried to smuggle it into India from Abu Dhabi. The gold, hidden in the woman’s clothing, was discovered by officers at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport based on passenger profiling. Two 24-carat gold TT bars were found concealed in her burka, suspected to evade Customs duty.
The seized gold, with a market worth of Rs 34,29,216, has been taken under the Customs Act, 1962. Authorities are conducting further investigations to understand the circumstances of the smuggling attempt. This incident is part of a series of recent gold smuggling cases at Ahmedabad airport, including a recent seizure of 729 grams of gold jewellery from another woman passenger arriving from Abu Dhabi.
In a previous major seizure, Ahmedabad Customs discovered 24 foreign-origin gold biscuits weighing 2,799.3 grams and valued at about Rs 4.27 crore hidden in the lavatory speaker compartment of a Dubai-Ahmedabad flight. This finding indicated an organized smuggling operation, prompting authorities to launch a thorough investigation into the matter.
