Gold worth Rs 1.66 crore seized from 11 air passengers in Hyderabad

Customs officials on Friday said that smuggled gold weighing 3.11 kg and valued at Rs 1.66 crore was seized at the international airport here from 11 passengers.

Hyderabad:Smuggled gold weighing 3.11 kg and valued at Rs 1.66 crore was seized at the international airport here from 11 passengers, Customs officials said on Friday.

According to Customs officials, the passengers, who arrived here from Dammam (in Saudi Arabia) by a Vande Bharath Mission flight on Thursday had concealed the gold (bars) in the inner pocket of their trousers which they were wearing.

Based on suspicion and profiling of the passengers, cases were booked against 11 passengers for allegedly smuggling of gold and they were being questioned.

In another case, Customs in coordination with CISF detected five passengers who were trying to smuggle out sandalwood and a total of 78.5 kg of sandalwood was seized from them at the airport on Thursday.

The five passengers were to travel from Hyderabad to Khartoum (in Sudan). Further investigation is being conducted by Customs. PTI