Kochi:
A one-kg gold biscuit valued at approximately Rs 30 lakh was today seized by Customs Air Intelligence Unit from a passenger who arrived in Kochi from Dubai.
The passenger, Abdul Kareem, reached Kochi by a flight early this morning.
The gold biscuit was found cut into two pieces and cleverly concealed inside specially made cavities of a pair of sandals worn by the passenger, who had left for Dubai from India on December 10 on his first visit abroad, airport sources said.
To qualify to import one kg of gold, a passenger has to stay abroad for more than six months and the duty amount has to be paid in convertible foreign exchange.
This is the first gold seizure in this month while the gold imported through the legitimate channel by payment of duty from December 1-December 18 was 129.64 kg.
This is the highest import of legitimate gold for a month and the duty amount collected was approximately Rs 4 crore, the sources said.
The seizure was effected by a team of officers under the overall supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Air Intelligence Unit) S A S Navaz and Assistant Commissioner Sanjay Kumar.