Mangaluru: The officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have thwarted a smuggling attempt by a passenger and seized six bars of gold worth over Rs 20 lac. The passenger, Umar Farook Kannadaguli (28), a resident of Manila, Bantwal, has been arrested.
Umar Farook arrived by SpiceJet flight SG-60 from Dubai to Mangaluru. Acting on credible intelligence that Umar would attempt to smuggle gold into the country, the DRI officers Mangaluru regional unit mounted surveillance at the Mangaluru International Airport.
On arrival of the aircraft from Dubai, Umar was identified right at the exit of the green channel, intercepted and escorted to customs arrival area and subjected to thorough checking. On checking his luggage, it was revealed that he was carrying a multimedia speaker system. On opening the speaker system, it was found that 6 tola bars of gold of foreign origin were cleverly concealed inside the transformer of the system in order to avoid detection.
The gold pieces weighed 699 grams in total and were found to be of 24 carat purity and their current market value was placed at around 21.53 lac. The contraband gold was later seized by the officers of DRI under the provisions of the Customs
