In a first, Coimbatore customs officials have seized smuggled gold, swallowed by a passenger who flew into Coimbatore from Sri Lanka on Friday.
Though the passenger was detained on Friday, the incident came to light only on Monday as the officials took three days to take out all the swallowed 24 carat gold, weighing at 432 grams and valued at Rs.13 lakh.
According to G. Srinivasarao, Commissioner of Coimbatore Customs , Sathiyaseelan, a Lankan national, was picked up on suspicion by the officials after he landed in Coimbatore by the Sri Lankan airlines flight No. UL19.
On interrogation , the passenger had admitted that he had swallowed gold in 20 packets and was immediately taken to a private hospital where the packets containing gold were taken out from his abdomen. Earlier, an X-ray of his pelvis portion had revealed that the passenger had 20 small packets of foreign body inside his abdomen in the para-umbilical region.
“While 19 packs came out, it took almost 8 hours for the last packet to be released from the body and the smuggled item was immediately seized,” claimed the Commissioner.
While the total value of the item is estimated at Rs.13 lakh, the duty imposed on the same was Rs. 1.69 lakh (13 per cent), which the owner of the property was trying to evade from.
Officials said the passenger had only acted as a carrier and that someone had used him to transport the gold without paying duty. He is currently being interrogated and fine can be worked out only after investigation.
In the current financial year alone, Customs officials from Coimbatore have seized a total of 12.145 kg gold worth Rs. 3.69 crores of which 9.5 kg have been seized from passengers who flew in from Sri Lanka, making it the hottest smuggling route to Coimbatore.
“We are seeing a rising trend in gold smuggling ever since the imposition of duty on gold,” Srinivasarao said.
While in most of the cases the smugglers have attempted to smuggle jewelry or gold bars as concealments in battery, dates paste, mobile phones, zip runners and rectum, this is the first time when a smuggler had swallowed gold. According to the Commissioner this is the first instance of this kind even outside Coimbatore.
“People usually swallow drugs or other stones after concealing them in small packets, but this is the first time gold has been swallowed,” he observed.
However, despite this being a different case, officials could not arrest the passenger under the Customs Act 1962 as he had tried to smuggle less than the limit prescribed for arrest. “Arrests can be made only if the value of the material seized is above Rs. 20 lakh,” the commissioner added.
Though the passenger was detained on Friday, the incident came to light only on Monday as the officials took three days to take out all the swallowed 24 carat gold, weighing at 432 grams and valued at Rs.13 lakh.
According to G. Srinivasarao, Commissioner of Coimbatore Customs , Sathiyaseelan, a Lankan national, was picked up on suspicion by the officials after he landed in Coimbatore by the Sri Lankan airlines flight No. UL19.
On interrogation , the passenger had admitted that he had swallowed gold in 20 packets and was immediately taken to a private hospital where the packets containing gold were taken out from his abdomen. Earlier, an X-ray of his pelvis portion had revealed that the passenger had 20 small packets of foreign body inside his abdomen in the para-umbilical region.
“While 19 packs came out, it took almost 8 hours for the last packet to be released from the body and the smuggled item was immediately seized,” claimed the Commissioner.
While the total value of the item is estimated at Rs.13 lakh, the duty imposed on the same was Rs. 1.69 lakh (13 per cent), which the owner of the property was trying to evade from.
Officials said the passenger had only acted as a carrier and that someone had used him to transport the gold without paying duty. He is currently being interrogated and fine can be worked out only after investigation.
In the current financial year alone, Customs officials from Coimbatore have seized a total of 12.145 kg gold worth Rs. 3.69 crores of which 9.5 kg have been seized from passengers who flew in from Sri Lanka, making it the hottest smuggling route to Coimbatore.
“We are seeing a rising trend in gold smuggling ever since the imposition of duty on gold,” Srinivasarao said.
While in most of the cases the smugglers have attempted to smuggle jewelry or gold bars as concealments in battery, dates paste, mobile phones, zip runners and rectum, this is the first time when a smuggler had swallowed gold. According to the Commissioner this is the first instance of this kind even outside Coimbatore.
“People usually swallow drugs or other stones after concealing them in small packets, but this is the first time gold has been swallowed,” he observed.
However, despite this being a different case, officials could not arrest the passenger under the Customs Act 1962 as he had tried to smuggle less than the limit prescribed for arrest. “Arrests can be made only if the value of the material seized is above Rs. 20 lakh,” the commissioner added.