Bhubaneswar: The air intelligence wing of the customs department at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) seized 215 grams of gold worth around nine lakh rupees from a passenger who landed here from Kuala Lumpur, officials said Monday.
Acting on a tip-off, the sleuths intercepted one passenger hailing from Madurai in Tamil Nadu at the BPIA Friday evening.
He had arrived from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia by the Air Asia flight AK-31. During the search of his possessions, 48 gold pieces of foreign origin were found concealed in the baggage of the accused smuggler. The seized gold pieces weighing 215.600 gms with 99.9% purity were valued at Rs. 8, 91,506.
Gold smugglers have started using Odisha as a safe route to smuggle gold into the country after launch of international flights operations at BPIA a few years ago.