A person trying to smuggle 200 grams of gold in his phone battery was caught by custom officials at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi. The officials became suspicious after seeing the passenger’s cheap phone which apparently did not match with his appearance.
The person who was flying from Saudi Arabia’s Dammam to Delhi has been arrested since his phone gave him away.
According to a senior officer associated with airport security, the accused had reached Terminal 3 of IGI Airport by a flight coming from Dammam. While coming out of the terminal, his phone roused the suspicion of an officer of Custom Air Preventive.
While nothing suspicious was found during the search of the person, customs officers discovered that the two batteries fitted in his Rs 400 phone contained about 200 grams of gold when they examined it. After the gold was recovered, the person was arrested.
According to a senior customs officer, smugglers involved in gold smuggling are now trying to smuggle gold not only through international but also through domestic routes. Air Intelligence teams are now being deployed at international as well as the domestic terminals.
Recently, the Customs Air Preventive Unit had arrested an Uzbek citizen from Terminal 3. Gold jewellery worth about Rs 1.80 crore was recovered from him.
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