Two foreign nationals with $90,000 and more than 2.5 kg of gold in two different incidents of interception on January 22 and 23 were arrested by the customs department at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport.
As reported by news agency PTI, the currency notes were concealed between pages of books by one passenger and the gold was being carried in paste form by another, according to officials.
On 22-23 Jan Mumbai Airport Customs intercepted two foreign nationals in two separate cases and seized 90,000 USD concealed in pages of books and over 2.5 Kg Gold in paste form concealed in undergarment respectively. Both the passengers have been arrested. pic.twitter.com/4XvLSJ7DXp
— Mumbai Customs-III (@mumbaicus3) January 24, 2023
On January 22, the currency notes were caught from an Azerbaijan national who was travelling from Sharjah and was carrying around $90,000 worth cash ( ₹73 lakh) hidden in between pages of a book.
In a different incident, a Palestine national was arrested at the airport who was travelling from Dubai. He was caught possessing over 2.5 kg gold paste. “The traveller had concealed the gold paste in his undergarment,” an official told PTI.
Under relevant sections of the Customs Act, both the passengers have been booked and have launched further investigation.