Foreign Currency Over 70 Lakhs Found From Backpack At Tamil Nadu Airport

The customs department officials at Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirappalli International Airport seized foreign currency worth more than Rs 70 lakh from a backpack on Sunday, reported ANI.

In a video shared by the news agency on Twitter, officials are seen taking out bundle after bundle of different foreign currency notes concealed inside the backpack. It appears that some of the cash was also hidden inside a layer of the bag and customs officers had to cut it.

Customs officials have also recovered 211 grams of gold in powder form and 175 grams of gold chains at the Tiruchirappalli International Airport. The powdered gold was mixed with chocolate powder and concealed in three separate containers. Its purity was found to be 24 karats after extraction, according to the officials.

The total value of the gold powder and chains is estimated to be Rs 21.55 lakh.

The yellow metal was found in the check-in baggage of a passenger who arrived from Dubai on an Air India flight on Saturday. The passenger was apprehended during checking, said officials adding that they are looking into the matter.

In November last year, foreign currency worth 4,97,000 USD (Rs 4.1 crore) was seized from three members of a family at Mumbai airport. The currency was recovered in a targeted operation carried out by the Mumbai Air Intelligence (AIU). All three passengers were arrested, customs officials said. 

The Indian passengers were travelling to Dubai when they were intercepted by customs officials at the airport. A video, shared by ANI on Twitter, showed foreign currency ingeniously concealed inside shoes and a saree.

Later the same month, customs officials at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport made their highest value seized in a single day by recovering 61 kg of gold in separate operations.