Man arrested smuggling gold worth Rs 15 lakh at Jaipur airport

Jaipur:  The customs department arrested a man for smuggling gold at Jaipur international airport on Friday. The price of the gold weighting 423 gram is said to be Rs 15 lakh. The man arrived at Jaipur from Dubai. He hid the gold in the cardboard paper of kids coloring book and covered it under the file through multiple layers of papers.

The accused is a resident of Rajasthan and was caught while he was getting through the security checkpoint at Jaipur international airport.

According to the officials, gold sheets were spotted under the layers of cardboard during the security check.

The smuggler covered the gold sheets very neatly under multiple layers of cardboard and papers. However, a security scan of his luggage helped security agencies discover the gold.

The gold was seized and the smuggler was arrested. The team is questioning the man to get further details on the smuggling network that he was part of, added officials.

The officer said that the man will be produced in a court. Further investigation is going on.

The smugglers have made the Jaipur international airport a middle spot for gold smuggling from foreign countries to other states including Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and others.

Security agencies are keeping a close eye and are alert due to an increase in gold smuggling from other countries.

The customs department officials have caught several people smuggling gold at Jaipur airport in the past two years. The graph of the smuggling in the year 2018 and the initial months of 2019 has increased to double as compared to 2017-18.