Passenger arrested with bullet at Nedumbassery airport

KOCHI: Passenger caught with bullet at Nedumbassery International Airport. Yashran Singh, a native of Maharashtra who was going to Pune on an Indigo flight, was arrested. The bullet was found when his baggage was screened. He has been handed over to the police and is being interrogated in detail.

The bullet was seized at Nedumbassery airport amid intensified gold hunting operations. Recently, illegal gold worth 1.75 crore rupees was seized by Customs Air Intelligence. Khader Moideen, a native of Kanyakumari who arrived in Kochi from Dubai was arrested.

Moideen had concealed 2,333 grams of 24-carat gold bars inside his jeans. The seized gold is worth Rs 1,74,63,340 in the domestic market. Officers found the gold when they noticed Moideen acting suspiciously while trying to exit through the green channel. It is suspected that this seizure is connected to an international gold smuggling gang. This is the largest gold seizure conducted by Air Customs Intelligence at Nedumbassery airport in recent times.

On the 19th of this month, gold worth Rs 6.3 crore and 1,07,000 cartons of cigarettes were seized at Karipur airport. The cigarettes are valued at Rs 12.85 lakh. The contraband was seized from 12 passengers during a joint investigation by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and Air Customs Intelligence.

This is the largest gold seizure conducted by the Air Customs Intelligence Department at Karipur recently. A native of Thalassery who arrived from Dubai was caught smuggling 682 grams of gold worth Rs 48 lakh. A native of Kuttyadi, Kozhikode who arrived from Sharjah, was caught with 1,122 grams of gold worth Rs 79 lakh. A native of Wayanad who came from Dubai was caught with 1,124 grams of gold worth Rs 80.80 lakh. These three men had concealed the gold on their bodies.

Additionally, 1,274 grams of gold worth Rs 91 lakh and 1,094 grams of gold worth Rs 78 lakh were recovered from two passengers from Ras Al Khaimah, who are natives of Malappuram. Both had hidden the gold on their bodies and inside the soles of their shoes. Two individuals from Kunnumakkara, Kozhikode were caught smuggling 999 grams of gold worth Rs 71 lakh and 1,294 grams of gold worth Rs 92 lakh. Furthermore, three passengers from Kasaragod who arrived from Muscat were caught smuggling cigarettes.