Mangaluru, Aug 29: Customs officials at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) have seized gold weighing 335 grams, valued at Rs 16,21,400 from a passenger from Dubai.
The gold was being smuggled by concealing it in bolts and wheel connecting rods in two skating boards from the passenger, identified as Muhammed Navas hailing from Muliyar, Kasaragod in Kerala.
The passenger arrived from Dubai by Air India Express flight No IX 384 on Saturday.
The operations were led by Customs superintendent M Manokarthayini, along with superintendents B M Nagesh Kumar, Naveen Kumar, Subhendu Ranjan Behera, Virag Shukla, V S Ajith Kumar, P C Padhi, Satish Kumar and inspector Prafull Mittal, a Customs release here said.
The operations were conducted under the guidance of Customs Commissioner Imamuddin Ahmad. Further investigation is under progress.
The Commissioner appreciated the efforts made by the officers in checking smuggling by detecting different kinds of modus operandi adopted by the unscrupulous elements to bring gold into the country illegally.





Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
