Vijayawada: Gold worth Rs 55.34 lakh smuggled seized

Vijayawada : The Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Vijayawada busted a case of illegal foreign currency and smuggled gold of Dubai and Sri Lanka origin coming into Andhra Pradesh.

In the early hours of October 18th at Kaza Toll Plaza on NH-16 of Guntur district, officials of Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Vijayawada intercepted a carrier of illegal foreign currency who was travelling in a bus from Vijayawada to Nellore and recovered nearly Rs 13.10 lakh worth of illegal foreign currency from him.

The carrier was travelling to Chennai to dispose of the foreign currency and purchase smuggled gold. As a follow up to this operation, the officers of Customs Division, Kakinada conducted search operations at the premises of a gold merchant in Narsapur, West Godavari district on October 18th and 19th and recovered 940.46 grams of foreign origin gold worth Rs 55.34 lakh along with foreign currency (4250 US Dollars) worth Rs 3.53 lakh. “Customs authorities continue to face a difficult task in tracking down syndicates behind smuggled gold, as the gold smuggled into India is being immediately defaced and melted to remove the foreign markings, before the gold is moved to interior areas.

In the year 2022-23 and 2023-24, the Vijayawada Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate has made seizures of smuggled gold to the tune of more than 70 kgs valued more than Rs 40 crore. It appears that the foreign markings on some of the gold pieces were deliberately erased to camouflage the smuggled nature of the gold. Further investigations are in progress,” an officer stated.