Gold Worth ₹4.26 Crore Found Hidden Inside Aircraft Toilet Speaker At Ahmedabad Airport
In a major anti-smuggling operation, Customs officials at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport seized gold worth more than ₹4.26 crore that had been cleverly concealed inside a speaker box located in an aircraft lavatory.
The seizure took place on Friday aboard IndiGo flight 6E-1478, which had arrived in Ahmedabad from Dubai.
Acting on specific intelligence, Customs officers conducted a detailed inspection of the aircraft with assistance from aircraft engineers. During the search, officials discovered two pouches wrapped in black plastic tape hidden inside a wall-mounted speaker box used for in-flight announcements in the aircraft’s front lavatory.
After dismantling the speaker unit, officers recovered 24 foreign-origin gold biscuits concealed behind the audio components. The seized gold was found to be of 999.0 purity (24-carat) and weighed approximately 2.8 kilograms.
Authorities estimated the value of the recovered gold at ₹4.26 crore in the domestic market.
Investigators believe the smuggling operation may have involved hiding the gold inside the aircraft so it could later be retrieved by a domestic passenger or a member of the ground handling staff after landing. However, no individual came forward to claim the consignment, suggesting that those involved may have abandoned the plan due to heightened security checks.
As a result, the gold has been classified as unclaimed and confiscated under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.
Customs officials have launched a detailed investigation to identify those behind the smuggling attempt and determine how the gold was placed inside the aircraft.
News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
