MUMBAI: Customs officials at the city airport arrested an employee of Air India Airport Services Limited on suspicion that he was part of a gold smuggling syndicate. The company is a ground-handling service provider.
On Tuesday night, based on vigilance and suspicion, Customs officials intercepted customer service executive Mayur Korade (31) at the departure area of T-2 Terminal. Officials conducted a personal check, and found him wearing three underwear. On sustained interrogation, he admitted to carrying smuggled gold from transit passengers out of the airport.
“He said on Tuesday he was to receive gold from a transit passenger arriving from the UAE going to Colombo in transit. Hence, with his help, we tried to identify the transit passenger but could not trace him,” said an official.
Customs booked Korade on charges of gold smuggling. He is accused of facilitating illegal transit of gold from international flyers.
His lawyer, Aftab Qureshi, strongly opposed the arrest, calling it “unlawful”.
DRI arrests four Nigerian nationals for smuggling gold at Mumbai airport
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Thursday arrested four Nigerian nationals for allegedly smuggling 5kg of gold worth over Rs 4 crore.
Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officials intercepted Dido Aliya Mascud, Sheikh Benazir Abdi, Ismail Itahil Mohammed, and Farah Abdi upon their arrival from Nairobi at the city airport.
A search led to the recovery of gold bars and jewellery concealed beneath their burkhas. Their advocate, Prabhakar Tripathi, informed the court.
“Their arrest is unjustified and legally questionable. As per the Customs Act, recoveries below Rs 50 lakh do not warrant arrest. Farah was found with 470gm gold, Benazir 205gm and Ismail Istahil too had a recovery valued at less than Rs 1 crore. Despite this, the DRI unlawfully amalgamated these recoveries to inflate the case. Moreover, the delay of 24 hours in producing them before the court further raises concerns.”
The court, however, sent them to judicial custody.