The air intelligence unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs arrested a Korean national for smuggling 15 kg gold at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Monday. The smuggler, Kim Young Jin had arrived from Hong Kong and was carrying 15 bars of gold in a specially designed vest. The gold bars are of 1 kg each and worth around ₹4 crore.
When he was intercepted by the customs officials after his arrival from Hong Kong by Cathay Pacific Airlines, he was stopped at the last gate on suspicion and was made to pass through a metal detector after he gave an unsatisfactory reply. Officials then frisked him and found the gold in his jacket, specially stitched to conceal the gold.
Kim told the officials that he was only a carrier and was to deliver the gold bars in Mumbai during an interrogation. He said someone would call him to claim the gold and he would be paid ₹1.5 lakh for the job.
Officials are trying to establish the identity of the recipient. They said that they recently learned that smugglers were using Koreans and other foreigners as gold carriers to avoid suspicion.