NEDUMBASSERY: In a major haul, the Air Customs Intelligence personnel seized a huge quantity of gold ornaments worth more than Rs 1 crore from two passengers who arrived at the Kochi airport here by an Emirates Flight from Dubai on Tuesday morning.They hail from Bhatkal in Karnataka. They were frequent travellers but came to Kochi airport for the first time, Customs Assistant Commissioner C Madhavan said. The smuggled quantity was found to be weighing 4855.4 gms and costs around Rs 1.062 crore. The passengers had concealed the ornaments in between two socks covered with knee pads. The passengers had declared to the Customs personnel that they were not carrying any taxable items. The Customs officials suspect that the passengers might be carriers used for smuggling ornaments. They have been detained for further questioning. The investigation has been extended to other parts of the country. Eighteen-carat-gold ornaments are much-sought-after in Mumbai. The team which seized the ornaments included Assistant Commissioner C Madhavan Customs Superintendents S Subramaniam, A D Joseph, C V Thambi and Peethambaran Nair . It is the biggest seizure of gold ornaments in the history of the Kochi airport, Madhavan said. The accused persons are being grilled and are likely to be arrested after seeking legal opinion. The Supreme Court had recently pronounced a verdict on the procedure to be followed while arresting smugglers, Customs sources said.
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