Customs seize smuggled gold worth Rs 6.4 Cr in Vijayawada

Vijayawada: Smuggled gold valued at Rs 6.4 crore and originating from Dubai and Sri Lanka was seized from a person in Vijayawada.

Customs sleuths intercepted a car at Bollapalli toll plaza on Friday and confiscated 4.3 kg of gold bars from the accused, officials said.

“It appears that the foreign markings on the gold were deliberately erased to camouflage the smuggled nature of the gold,” said Principal Commissioner R Sriram in a press release on Saturday night, adding that a follow up search operation enabled them to recover another 6.8 kg of gold at the carrier’s premises.

The follow up operation on Saturday resulted in the recovery of gold in jewellery form along with foreign currency, Kuwaiti dinars, Qatari riyals and Omani riyals, worth Rs 1.5 lakh.

The senior official said the carrier has been arrested under the provisions of Customs Act 1962 and remanded to judicial custody by the Court of Special Judge to Try Economic Offences, Visakhapatnam.

Meanwhile, the principal commissioner noted that Customs authorities are facing a difficult task to track down smuggled gold syndicates as the contraband is being immediately defaced to erase foreign traces.

In 2022-23 and 2023-24, Sriram noted that the Vijayawada Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate seized up to 70 kg gold worth Rs 40 crore.