Over 11 kg of gold jewellery worth Rs 6.4 Cr and foreign currency worth Rs 1.5 lakh from Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, was seized by the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Vijayawada. The seizure was made during the wee hours of Friday, August 25.
The smuggled gold originated from Dubai and Sri Lanka, the officials said.
A car headed to Vijayawada from Chennai was intercepted at the Bopalli toll plaza and nearly 4.3 kgs of gold was recovered.
When officers conducted a search operation at the accused’s premises, 6.8 kgs of gold jewellery and foreign currency — Kuwait Dinar, Oman Rial and Qatar Riyal — were seized, that was worth Rs 1.5 lakh.
According to customs officials, the foreign markings on the gold were deliberately erased to camouflage the smuggled nature of the gold.
On Saturday, the accused carrying smuggled gold was arrested under provisions of the Customs Act 1962. The accused has been remanded to 13 days of judicial custody by a court in Vishakhapatnam.
In the years 2022-23 and 2023-24, the Vijayawada Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate made seizures of smuggled gold to the tune of 70 kgs valued at about Rs 40 crores.
