Delhi Customs seized 3 kg of Smuggled Gold worth Rs. 1.96 crore at IGI Airport; 2 accused arrested

The Delhi Customs Preventive, New Customs House, seized 27 gold bars weighing more than 3 kg worth Rs. 1.96 crore from two foreign nationals at the Indira Gandhi International Airport yesterday.

Two Uzbek nationals, Ms. Makhpirakhon Mamatkhodjaeva and Ms. Zamirakhon Kabirova, were accused of smuggling gold yesterday by Delhi Customs Preventive officials based on profiling.

Indigo flight 6E 6281 from Lucknow to Delhi dropped the passengers off in the early hours of Thursday morning and they arrived at the Domestic Terminal, T-1, IGI Airport. When the two travellers approached the arrival hall departure gate at Terminal 1 of IGI Airport in New Delhi, they were stopped by customs officers. Following a search of the luggage and a check-up for potential body camouflage, 27 gold bars totalling 3,150 grams and estimated worth of Rs 1.96 crore were seized from the travellers.

Based on a reasonable suspicion that they may be subject to seizure under Section 111 of the Customs Act of 1962, the recovered gold bars have been confiscated under Section 110 of the Customs Act of 1962. The Customs Act of 1962, Section 104, has led to the arrest of the travellers today.

Inquiries into the case are still ongoing.