India: Passenger held with gold paste worth over Rs5 million at Delhi airport

Air Customs at Delhi International Airport has booked a passenger who arrived from a Gulf country and seized gold worth over Rs5 million in the form of paste from the person, officials said on Wednesday.

According to police, the passenger has been booked for smuggling gold and the recovered gold has been seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act 1962.

"On the basis of profiling, the officers of Airport Customs, IGI Airport, Terminal-3, New Delhi have booked a case of smuggling of gold paste on April 29, against an Indian passenger who arrived at T-3, Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi."

"During personal and baggage search of the passenger, four oval-shaped chemical paste suspected to contain gold totally weighing 1,165 grams (approx.) including concealing material were recovered from the passenger which after further process of extraction resulted in the recovery of 1,013 grams of unevenly shaped gold bar having tariff value of Rs5,382,358," the officials said.

According to the officials, the market value of the recovered gold amounts to Rs6,067,566.

"The passenger has committed an offence punishable under Sections 132 & 135 of the Customs Act, 1962 including an attempt to smuggle gold paste equivalent to Rs5,382,358 and the market value is Rs6,067,566,, informed the officials.

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