Big haul: Delhi customs seizes gold, forex worth Rs 5.5 cr in one day

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New Delhi: In one of the biggest seizures, gold and foreign currencies worth Rs 5.5 crore were seized at the Delhi airport in a single day. "Indira Gandhi International Airport customs intelligence and preventive have been maintaining a heightened alert posture to curb smuggling. In last 24 hours contraband worth over 5.5 crore was seized," said Manish Kumar, commissioner of customs department at the airport.

The department said a Japanese man was intercepted after his arrival from Hong Kong on Monday. A detailed personal and baggage search of the passenger resulted in the recovery of four pieces of gold of cylindrical shape and eight gold bars, collectively weighing 7 kg, it said in a statement issued Tuesday. The market value of the gold, that has been seized, is assessed to be Rs 2.22 crore, the statement said, adding that the Japanese man was arrested. It is after a long time that a Japanese man has been arrested for gold smuggling.

The yellow metal was concealed inside auto parts being carried by the passenger. In another case, three Indian men were intercepted at the airport when they were proceeding to board a flight to Hong Kong on Sunday. A detailed personal and baggage search of these passengers resulted in the recovery of various foreign currencies USD, Australian Dollar, Euro, New Zealand Dollar, UAE Dirham, Bahrain Dinar and Hong Kong Dollar among others equivalent to Rs 2.3 crore. The trio were arrested and the forex was seized. In addition to these, other small seizures totalling another three kilogram of gold were made on Sunday. In all, ten kg gold and foreign currencies worth Rs 5.5 crore were seized, a senior customs official said.

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