Pune customs recovers over one kg gold in paste and solid form from SpiceJet flight from Dubai; one arrested

PUNE: In a major good catch, the airport unit of the Pune customs caught a man from Sangli who was trying to smuggle more than one kilogram of gold in the form of a semi solid paste and other shapes.
Customs authorities said that the man’s intention was not to take out the gold at the Pune airport. “He had come to Pune from Dubai on SpiceJet flight SG52.The man had hidden the gold which was in a packet in a hollow pipe located underneath the seat of the aircraft on which he travelled. This flight, after coming from Dubai, runs on a domestic circuit. The plan was that another passenger, who is his accomplice, would take the same seat, then take out the gold and exit the other airport as a domestic traveller. Domestic arrivals don’t see any customs checks,” a senior customs officer told TOI.
The total weight of the gold recovered is 1088.3 grams and costs Rs. 78.01 lakhs. “Gold is mainly smuggled from Dubai and this person seems to be a regular carrier. On the basis of profiling, his belongings were checked but nothing objectionable was found in his bags. However, the behavior of the man was very suspicious, so officers asked him whether he had concealed anything in the aircraft. The man’s answers were not convincing which resulted in officers thoroughly checking his seat and some other parts of the aircraft.
This finally resulted in the recovery of the gold paste,” the officer pointed out, adding that further investigations were underway.