CBI detains Customs officials on links with smugglers

CBI today detained three Customs officials, including an Assistant Commissioner, at the airport here for alleged connivance with smugglers, official sources said.

CBI today detained three Customs officials, including an Assistant Commissioner, at the airport here for alleged connivance with smugglers, official sources said.

The Assistant Commissioner and two Customs Superintendents were detained after a crackdown in which the CBI found several passengers who arrived from Singapore yesterday were cleared by the Customs despite allegedly carrying contraband.

According to the sources, around 70 passengers arrived by the Air India Express flight from Singapore late last night and of the 20 had been cleared by the Customs when an 11-member CBI team led by a DSP intercepted them and ordered a re-check of them.

Several of the passengers subjected to the fresh check at a separate enclosure by the CBI was allegedly found in possession of contraband, mostly gold, they said without divulging further details.

The search of all 70 passengers continued for the second day today following which CBI questioned the three customs officials and detained them, the sources said.

The CBI searches come in the background of regular attempts to smuggle gold, turtles, and other items through the airport here.

Sources said that in the last three months, gold worth a few crores had been seized at the airport here at periodical intervals.

However, there was the suspicion that these seizures were minor and a ploy to smuggle large quantities in collusion with some customs and immigration officials.

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