Kerala: Customs arrest two, recover gold worth over Rs 67 lakh in separate cases

Cochin (Kerala) [India], January 9 : Cochin Customs arrested two persons and recovered gold worth 67.29 lakhs in two separate cases on Tuesday. In the first case, Cochin Customs arrested one and seized gold worth Rs 40.67 lakhs from a family who came from Sharjah.
The arrested person has been identified as Basheer Mattanchery.
Cochin Customs officials said, "On January 9, based on profiling, a family who came from Sharjah to Cochin was intercepted at the green channel by the officers of Batch. On search, 24K gold jewellery weighing 721.50 gms of Rs 40.67 lakhs was found concealed underneath the dress worn by the husband and wife. The 24K gold jewellery were recovered and seized."
Customs officials said that further investigations were going on.
In another case, based on intelligence forwarded by Special customs, a Japanese national who came from Bangkok to Cochin was intercepted at the green channel by the officers of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) batch. The recovered gold was valued at Rs 26.62 lakhs.
Customs officials arrested the Japanese national.
"On personal search, 7 gold bars weighing 472.40 gms wrapped with black adhesive tape were found concealed inside a compartment in his wallet which was glued to its side. The gold bars were recovered and seized," AIU officials said.
Further investigations are going on.