Chennai: A gold smuggler, who flew in from Sharjah, was arrested at the Chennai International airport by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU). Also the receiver who was meant to collect the gold from him was arrested. 1.16 Kg gold of 24K purity, worth Rs 64 lakh was seized under the Customs Act 1962.
On observing a passenger who appeared to be hurriedly rushing towards the exit with a carton box, officials intercepted the individual and checked his belongings. The carton box was found to contain clothes, household items and a toolkit. The toolkit contained an Electric wrench, which was found to be unusually heavy. On dismantling the machine, a black cylindrical piece of metal was found concealed inside. It was confirmed that the metal cylinder was painted in black, but made of pure 24K gold and it weighed 1.16kg.
The passenger who carried it was identified as Jahir Hussain, (54) a native of Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu. He had stated that he was handed over the tool kit by an unknown person at the Sharjah airport, with instructions to hand it over after reaching his quarantine facility, which is not far from the airport.
Soon after his COVID test was done, an AIU team boarded the bus along with the passenger, with another team following the bus. On reaching the hotel, the passenger contacted the receiver, in order to proceed with the handover. At the time of handover, the receiver and smuggler were arrested. The receiver was identified as Mohammad Asif (33), a Chennai-resident.
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