Chennai: Three persons have been arrested for possessing 1.82 kg gold and carrying 26.5 kg Iranian saffron at the airport here, said the Commissioner of Customs in a statement on Sunday.
The value of gold has been pegged at Rs 71.5 lakh, while that of Iranian saffron at Rs 63.6 lakh.
Based on specific information, the Customs officers interrogated Ameer Thekkulla Kandy, 41, from Kerala’s Ekarool and Haroon Nahar Movath, 29, from Kozhikode, who arrived at the Chenna airport from Dubai.
They found gold in the form of rubbery spread concealed inside the waistband of their pants. After the extraction, 1.82 kg of gold was recovered.
On Wednesday, Mohamed Javid Mushar, 22, of Nagapattinam, who had arrived from Dubai, was noticed to be roaming suspiciously inside the arrival hall of the airport.
He collected his check-in luggage from the belt and was found to be running in a hurried manner towards the exit. He was intercepted by the Customs Air Intelligence Unit (CAIU) at the exit.
On opening his bags, packets of Iranian origin saffron were found in pouches of 25 gram each, weighing 26.5 kg.
The three were arrested and gold and saffron were seized under the Customs Act, 1962, added the statement.