The Hindu : Kerala News : Major haul by Customs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 06, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Major haul by Customs

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 5. The Air Intelligence Unit of the Central Excise and Customs seized 306 semi-precious stones worth over Rs.50 lakhs from a person who landed here by a SriLankan Airlines flight, according to an official press release here today.

The stones were cleverly concealed in tea packets, the press release said, quoting the Commissioner of Central Excise and Customs, R.K. Jain. The passenger, who hails from Kayalpattanam in Tamil Nadu, was arrested and is under judicial custody.

Another seizure

Customs officers at the Air Cargo Complex here made another seizure of electronic spare parts valued at nearly Rs.30 lakhs today. These were imported as `unaccompanied baggage'. This seizure comprised 578 load cells used as spare parts for weighing balance.

In a press release, the Deputy Commissioner of Customs Air Cargo Complex, T.C. Rajadas, said the load cells were concealed inside the baggage of a person belonging to Karunagappally, in Kollam district. His attempt was to smuggle in the costly goods as `personal effects and used household articles'. He too was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. This was the biggest individual seizure at the Thiruvananthapuram Air Cargo in the last several years, according to the press release.

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