Mumbai: The air intelligence unit (AIU) of the customs department has busted a gold smuggling ring in which a cellphone messaging application was used as the means of communication between couriers and receivers. The AIU's operation, which involved a short car chase, culminated in the arrest of four people, including two flight catering-cleaning staff, and a net seizure of nearly 7kg of gold (exactly 6.79kg, worth Rs1.65 crore).
Explaining the modus operandi of the smugglers, additional commissioner (customs) Milind Lanjewar said the main courier would book a flight and hide gold bars in the lining of his seat or stick them with adhesive tape or other means on the seat's underside. Upon reaching the destination, he would disembark after messaging the seat number to a couple of catering staff responsible for cleaning the flight. The two staffers would retrieve the gold, hide it in the cleaning trolley and take it out of the airport through the disposal route, bypassing customs and other checks. One of them would then take the gold in a bag to a receiver, who would be at a specified location near the airport.
09/04/15 Vijay V Singh/Times of India
Explaining the modus operandi of the smugglers, additional commissioner (customs) Milind Lanjewar said the main courier would book a flight and hide gold bars in the lining of his seat or stick them with adhesive tape or other means on the seat's underside. Upon reaching the destination, he would disembark after messaging the seat number to a couple of catering staff responsible for cleaning the flight. The two staffers would retrieve the gold, hide it in the cleaning trolley and take it out of the airport through the disposal route, bypassing customs and other checks. One of them would then take the gold in a bag to a receiver, who would be at a specified location near the airport.
09/04/15 Vijay V Singh/Times of India
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