INDIA. Mumbai: The Mumbai Customs arrested three passengers, including two Sudanese nationals, and seized gold biscuits worth Rs 5.20 crore at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMA) on Wednesday, official sources said.
The Indian passenger, Mohammad Hasan Sumeda (44), who arrived from Dubai, had crossed the green channel. However, due to suspicion, he was examined.
His search revealed that he was wearing a special coat, which he had sewn for gold smuggling, inside the clothes.
He had nine packets, which contained 11 gold bars. There were nine whole bars (weighing one kilogramme), one half bar (weighing 500 grams), and one pulp weighing about 400 grams. The contraband was valued at Rs. 5, 20, and 47,000/-
On further interrogation, Sumeda revealed that two Sudanese nationals travelling on the same flight had given him the gold for smuggling. Based on the information, the customs officials detained both of them.
Their names were given as: Mansoor Ahmed Siddig Ismukashfi (44) and Mohammad Salih Alsheikh Gobran Iltelb (41). Both were stated to be residents of Khartoum, Sudan.
The Sudanese passengers were to take back the gold from Sumeda once out of the airport and give it to a person in India. All three were arrested under the Indian Customs Act 1962 and remanded to judicial custody.
Further investigations are on to find out whether the accused are part of an international gang. In a similar way, six Sudanese nationals were arrested at Mumbai airport for smuggling gold worth Rs 5 crore last month.
In another incident on Monday, the Mumbai Airport Customs seized 3.07 kg of gold dust valued at Rs 1.63 crore in two separate cases and arrested two passengers.
The accused passengers had arrived from Dubai in Mumbai by SpiceJet Flight SG-14. The accused had concealed gold dust in wax in their undergarments.
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