Customs seize Rs 1cr coins
Paris-based businessman Sultan Ahmed Abdul Qadir Maraikayar Nazeer Hussain, who was caught by customs officials at the Chennai airport with gold coins worth Rs 1 crore, tried to hoodwink authorities by carrying some of the coins in his coat pocket and keeping the remaining in his checked-in baggage.
Hussain was carrying 350 gold coins covered in black paper stuffed in between chocolate and sweet boxes in his checked-in baggage while 16 gold coins covered in black paper were there in his coat pocket.
The businessman had hoped that he would only have to give away the coins in his coat pocket to customs officials, while the checked-in baggage would safely slip through.
But that was not to be.
“We were monitoring his movements for some time. When we got a tip-off that he was arriving by the Emirates flight from Dubai at 3.30 am on Monday, we made sure the deputy commissioner of customs, who was monitoring his movements, was present at the airport so that he could easily identify the passenger,” said a senior customs official.
Hussain had changed his travel plans often to distract customs officials. “As the carrier belonged to a bigger smuggling network, he had suspected that he was being tracked. He kept booking and cancelling his tickets,” said a customs official.
Paris and Brussels in Europe are known for gold coins because of the presence of famous mints. “The smuggling syndicate had handed over the gold coins to Hussain in Paris,” the customs official said.
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