Foreign currencies, gold seized from 3 women at Hyderabad airport

Hyderabad, Nov 22 (IANS) Sleuths of Customs department at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on Monday apprehended two female passengers bound for Sharjah while attempting to smuggle foreign currency.

The officials recovered 55,000 UAE Dirhams and $970 worth Rs 11.49 lakh from the two passengers. The foreign currency was seized and two cases of attempted smuggling of foreign currency were registered against them.

The passengers were leaving for Sharjah by Air Arabia flight G9459.

In another case, Customs officials apprehended a female passenger for smuggling of gold. She had arrived from Dubai by Indigo flight 6E025. The officials recovered gold concealed in hand baggage weighing 350 grams and valued at Rs 17.69 lakhs.

Customs officials on Sunday booked a case for smuggling of iPhones against a passenger arriving from Sharjah.

They seized 9 iPhone 13 Pro valued at Rs 8.37 lakh which were concealed in hand baggage.

The airport has seen a series of cases of attempted smuggling of foreign currency over the last one month. On November 8, sleuths of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) apprehended a Dubai-bound passenger who was trying to smuggle foreign currency equivalent to Rs 13 lakh. He was to depart for Dubai.

This was the third case of attempted smuggling of foreign currency at Hyderabad Airport in two weeks. In all the three cases, the authorities seized Saudi currency from passengers

On October 24, Customs officials had seized Saudi Riyals worth Rs 9.77 lakh from a female passenger bound for Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Riyals worth Rs 9.78 lakh were seized from a passenger on October 31. He was leaving for Sharjah when Customs officials found the foreign currency in his luggage.