Ahmedabad: A suspicious patch inside a passenger’s trolley bag led Customs officials to an illegal gold haul worth Rs 20.1 lakh at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) Airport in Ahmedabad on Monday. The passenger had arrived in the city from Dubai and was promptly intercepted by the air intelligence unit (AIU) based on targeted passenger profiling and surveillance.During a detailed check of the individual’s cabin baggage, vigilant officers spotted a concealed cloth patch firmly fixed inside the bag. “On closer examination, it was found that gold paste had been concealed as a layer on a cloth patch fixed inside the trolley bag,” stated an official release by the department.After carefully extracting and melting the hidden material, officials recovered 133.4 grams of pure 24-carat gold. The smuggled gold was subsequently seized under relevant provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, officials confirmed during a briefing said.
