At Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, the Customs Department carried out a major action and thwarted the smuggling attempt of crores of rupees within four days. Between 21 and 24 September, a total of Hydroponic Vide (Marjuana), foreign currency and gold have been recovered from 21 to 24 September. Along with this, many smugglers have also been arrested.
A custom official said that this action was taken on the basis of secret information. The biggest case was found with a passenger from Bangkok (Thailand). A 18.4 kg of banned drug worth Rs 18.40 crore was caught from him. At the same time, another passenger traveling from Colombo (Sri Lanka) recovered 2.624 kg hydroponic vide hidden in a trolley bag.
The estimated price of seized drugs has been estimated at Rs 2.62 crore. Both passengers were immediately arrested. Three different passengers were also caught while hiding foreign currency. Of these, an unannounced foreign currency worth Rs 7.11 lakh was recovered from a passenger going to Dubai. Foreign currency worth Rs 49.38 lakh was found from another passenger riding in the same flight.
Apart from this, foreign currency worth Rs 19.17 lakh was seized from another passenger going to Jakarta (Indonesia). Not only this, gold hidden in the airport premises was also revealed. An unclaimed packet was recovered from a toilet near the immigration counter. In the investigation, 365 grams of gold dust was found from the packet, which was priced at Rs 38.10 lakh.
It was seized under the Customs Act. The Customs Department has made it clear that such smuggling being done by the passengers is constantly being closely monitored. The recent seizure suggests that the strong presence of security and intelligence at the airport is overshadowing every new way of smugglers. In July itself, 62 crore Kokin was recovered at Mumbai Airport.
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