Customs officials seize gold worth Rs 1.09 crore at Mangaluru International Airport

Mangaluru, Jan 15: Customs officials at Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) on Thursday seized 2.15 kg of gold worth Rs 1.09 crore from two people who arrived on a flight from Sharjah.

Based on intelligence and profiling of passengers, Customs personnel intercepted Faizal Thotty Melparamba (37) and Mohammad Shuhaib Mugu (31), both natives of Kasaragod in Kerala, a Customs release said. The two had arrived from Sharjah by Air India flight IX 1384 on Thursday.

When the officials checked the passengers, they found the gold, concealed in paste form in underwear. Over 2.154 kg of gold of 24K purity worth Rs 1.09 crore was recovered and seized.

Customs Commissioner Imamuddin Ahmed and Joint Commissioner Joannes George congratulated the officers of the airport customs team led by deputy commissioner Praveen Kandi and officers K Shrikanth, Subhendu Ranjan Behera, Naveen Kumar and others for their vigilant action in preventing the smuggling activity, a Customs release said.