Two people were arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold worth approximately Rs 6 crore. The passengers, identified as Mohammed Quamruzzama and Gulab Anwar, were intercepted by customs officials after their arrival from Dubai. “Both of them did not declare the gold brought by them in Indian customs declaration slip. During search, 21.7 kilograms of gold worth Rs 5.86 crore was recovered,” commissioner of customs Arun Kumar said. He said this was the biggest seizure of gold made at the Delhi airport. The accused are reportedly related. Separately, a 22-year-old South African woman was held at the airport for allegedly trying to smuggle out Rs 1.18 crore worth narcotic drugs, neatly concealed inside cricket gear and shoes. The incident was reported on Sunday around 11.30 pm when a CISF team spotted the woman who had arrived at the IGIA to go to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The woman, identified as Lynnette Nosipho, was about to board the flight when she was intercepted after CISF personnel found her behaviour suspicious. “Nosipho was chosen for a detailed inspection by security officials and when her baggage was scanned, 16 packets containing over 19 kilogram of narcotics were found,” said a senior CISF official. The drugs, reportedly identified as heroin and pseudoephedrine, were cleverly concealed inside cricket elbow guards, a laptop bag and ladies shoes placed in her luggage, airport officials said. The CISF team later alerted anti-narcotics sleuths who apprehended Nosipho under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. “The estimated value of the seized drug is Rs 1.18 crore,” said an airport official.
