Ahmedabad: In a major breakthrough, customs officials at Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport have busted a gold smuggling racket and seized gold worth over ₹4.26 crore that was cleverly concealed inside an aircraft toilet speaker box.
The operation took place after customs authorities received suspicious inputs regarding IndiGo flight 6E-1478, which had arrived from Dubai on Friday. Acting on the information, a detailed inspection of the aircraft was carried out with the assistance of aircraft engineers.
During the search, officials discovered two carefully concealed packets hidden inside a speaker box located in the front toilet of the aircraft. The packets were wrapped in black adhesive tape, apparently to avoid detection during routine security checks.
Upon opening the parcels, customs officials recovered 24 gold biscuits of foreign origin. The gold was found to be 24-carat (999 purity), weighing a total of 2,799.3 grams. Officials estimated the market value of the seized consignment at approximately ₹4.27 crore.
Authorities believe the gold was smuggled into India through illegal means and deliberately hidden inside the aircraft structure to bypass airport security checks. Interestingly, during preliminary verification, neither any passenger nor any crew member claimed ownership of the recovered gold.
Custom officials are now investigating the network behind the smuggling attempt, including possible international links and involvement of airport or ground staff.
The seizure highlights the growing sophistication of smuggling methods being used to evade detection at international airports, even as enforcement agencies continue to tighten surveillance.
