Customs Intelligence Unit in Tamil Nadu seized eight kilograms of gold worth Rs 5 crore which was smuggled from Sri Lanka. The seized gold was in the form of gold biscuits and gold bars.
The unit received a tip-off about the possible gold smuggling bid and increased their vigil along the coastline. Around early morning, they intercepted a country boat that arrived at Munthalmunai near Pamban.
The country boat did not have any registration number which raised the alarm and the four people aboard jumped into the sea as soon as they saw the customs personnel.
The officials searched the boat and found 3.5 kg of gold consignment hidden in the boat. The officials continued their investigation and received reliable information that the smugglers had hidden some more gold in a buoy floating in the sea off Dhanushkodi coast.
They recovered the buoy and found that 4.5 kg of gold was hidden in it. Altogether eight kg of gold was recovered. The department is trying to find out the owner of the boat and the smugglers who brought the gold from Sri Lanka. Further investigation was under way, said Customs officials.
The smugglers use the porous sea stretch in the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay for their advantage for smuggling gold from Sri Lanka while drugs, provisions and fertilizers are smuggled from India to Sri Lanka. The department of revenue intelligence and customs department thwart these smuggling bids at regular intervals and seize the gold and other contrabands.
The DRI seized 7.5 kilograms of gold smuggled from Sri Lanka and was transported by road from Devipattnam coastal village to Chennai in the month of October.
Source – Times of India
–Agencies
