Madurai:
In a major crackdown on gold smuggling, 31.75 kilograms of gold worth Rs 8.43 crore was seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence at the Madurai airport today.
Officials of the DRI and the Chennai Zone intercepted passengers in two flights, a Mihin Lanka flight from Colombo and a SpiceJet from Dubai, suspected of smuggling gold into the state.
Ten passengers have been detained for questioning so far in the case.
Gold bars weighting a kilogram each and 100 gram gold biscuits were recovered during the search. The officials said the gold bars were wrapped in chocolate wrappers.
"They concealed gold in the baggage so that it does not get detected by the customs," the DRI release said.
The goods were seized under the violation of Provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 and Baggage Rules, 1998.