$5 lakh seized from 2 men at Delhi airport

NEW DELHI: Minutes before two men were to board a plane to Dubai from Indira Gandhi International airport on Monday morning, customs officers intercepted them at the boarding gate of Terminal 3 and recovered halfa-million US dollars from their checked-in baggage.

The two men are believed to be carriers of currency and admitted to have allegedly smuggled out USD worth ₹50 lakh in October this year, officers said.

According to the officers, they received a tip-off around 8.30 am about the two suspects, who were scheduled to board a flight departing from Delhi airport at 10 am.

“We just had one hour to act. Our team developed information about the two suspects and we zeroed in on them at the boarding area of terminal 3. The two men were indentified and intercepted for questioning. We requested the airline concerned to de-board them and detained them for interrogation,” said a senior officer from Delhi customs, who did not wish to be named.

The airline was asked to return the checked-in baggage of the two men. “During detailed checking, we found a number of gift-wrapping papers from their luggage.

A closer look led to the recovery of US dollar notes hidden between the gift wrapping sheets. The total recovery was $507,800. This equals to ₹3,55,71,390,” the officer said.

Amandeep Singh, additional commissioner of customs at IGI airport, said this is one of the biggest seizures by the Delhi customs at IGI airport.

“Both the men were arrested and the currency was seized,” Singh said.

Further questioning revealed one of them works at an air-conditioner repairing workshop in Dubai while the other is a contractual labourer.

“Both of them are believed to be carriers. They told us during interrogation that they were unaware of the presence of money in their luggage. They said they were told someone would contact them once they arrive in Dubai. They confessed to have smuggled money in the past and can be a part of an active syndicate,” the officer added.