New Delhi, May 14 (PTI) Amid soaring gold prices, 350 grams of the precious metal concealed inside specially modified water bottles was seized by customs officers at the Delhi airport from two passengers, officials said on Thursday.
The travellers had arrived from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
“With the surge in international prices of the precious yellow metal, attempts to smuggle gold into India have become increasingly lucrative,” customs said in a statement.
The seizures come at a time when the government has expressed concern over rising gold imports and their impact on foreign exchange outflow.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week urged citizens to postpone gold purchases for a year to help conserve foreign exchange amid the ongoing West Asia crisis.
According to the statement, the two Indian male passengers were intercepted on May 13 after they crossed the green channel at Terminal 3 of the airport.
One passenger had arrived from Jeddah, while the other landed from Doha.
During detailed examination, customs officers detected “an ingenious modus operandi wherein water bottles had been specially modified with fake bottoms concealing circular pieces of raw gold coated with silver colour”.
The gold pieces were “meticulously crafted to fit inside, making detection extremely difficult during routine checks”, the statement added.
Customs officials recovered and seized 233.5 grams of gold from one passenger and 117 grams from the other.
“Though the quantity seized was comparatively small, the case is significant for the novel concealment methodology detected and exposed by Delhi Airport Customs,” the statement said.
However, Delhi Airport Customs remains vigilant and proactive in countering such attempts, it added. PTI MHS PRK
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