Passenger held with gold at Ahmedabad airport

Customs officials at the Ahmedabad airport last week foiled the bid of a passenger to smuggle 3-kg gold, worth over Rs 1 crore, by nabbing him and recovering the precious metal from a private flight, a senior officer said on Monday. The passenger, identified only as Robin, was held by the Customs officials at the airport upon his arrival from Bangkok. He is a resident of Delhi.

"Robin was produced before a designated court which remanded him in the custody of Customs department till November 13," said Principal Commissioner Kumar Santosh. He said the gold was found hidden inside a cavity underneath Robin's seat in the plane.

"We suspect that some staff members of the private airline might have also been involved in helping Robin to smuggle gold. We are also trying to find out the possible role of other persons, including airport staff or jewellers," Santosh told reporters. The Customs department has registered 60 cases of gold smuggling during the last eight months and seized 54.72 kgs of gold worth Rs 16.64 crore at the city airport, he said.

Majority of the apprehended passengers arrived from Dubai, Sharjah, Oman, Kuwait and Bangkok, he added..