NEW DELHI: Five Uzbek nationals have been arrested by customs officials at the airport here for allegedly smuggling close to 3 kg of gold worth Rs 1.92 crore into the country, according to a statement on Monday. The accused were intercepted following their arrival at domestic terminal-1 of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here from Mumbai on Thursday, it said.
They had hoped to evade scrutiny of the customs department by smuggling the gold, bought from Dubai, through the domestic terminal in Delhi instead of international arrivals at the Mumbai airport.
“On the suspicion of smuggling gold, the passengers arriving from Mumbai, after disembarkation, were brought by the customs officers at the Office of Preventive Customs (Shift) located at the international arrival hall of T-3, IGI Airport, New Delhi,” the statement by the customs department said. Following a thorough personal search and baggage examination, nine gold chains weighing 2.8 kg were found, it said, adding the total value of the recovered gold was Rs 1.92 crore.
The passengers confessed to purchasing gold chains in Dubai and attempting to bypass customs by traveling from Mumbai to Delhi via domestic arrivals. All five passengers were arrested.