1559.6 carats Diamonds were hidden in tea leaf packets, 1 Passenger arrested
By Sitaram Mewati
The ever-vigilant officers of Air Intelligence Unit of Mumbai Airport Customs intercepted one passenger namely Mukkim Razza Ashraf Mansuri. He was scheduled to depart to Dubai from Mumbai airport via SpiceJet Airlines. The Customs Department stopped the suspicious passenger for questioning during surveillance. Smuggling of diamonds came to light during the investigation of the passenger. The custom team seized 1559.6 carats of natural and lab-grown diamonds valued at Rs 1.49 crore.
To hide all these diamonds from the vigil eyes of the customs, the traveler had cleverly hidden diamonds in one tea packet of brand “Brooke Bond Taj Mahal”, they were found wherein in an ingenuous concealment diamond. The said recovered diamonds were seized under relevant provisions of Customs Act, 1962 and the passenger has been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
It is worth mentioning that Mumbai Airport’s Air Intelligence unit is always on high alert to avert smuggling activities. This is not the first case of recovery of diamonds at Mumbai airport previously too. AIU has arrested many such citizens who smuggle diamonds and other things. In the recent past, AIU has unearthed several smuggling activities and put the culprits behind bars.
It would be appropriate to mention here that smugglers adopt many modus operandi for different types of smuggling. But the Mumbai Customs have methods to stop all kinds of smuggling. They are always four steps ahead of the smugglers’ thinking. The Customs Department has many sources and a network of informers to get information about smuggling activities. The Customs Department remains on high alert 24×7 and ensures that no smuggling takes place.
Editor in Chief : Mewati SItaram
