CISF personnel recover 34,500 US Dollars worth about Rs 27 lakh at IGI Airport, one held

New Delhi: A man was held at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) on Wednesday for allegedly attempting to smuggle 34,500 US dollars, by hiding it in the false bottom of his sweet boxes.

"On June 1, at about 12. 25 pm, on the basis of behavior detection, CISF surveillance and intelligence staff, noticed suspicious activities of a passenger at the Check-In area near "J" row, Terminal-3 of IGI Airport. The passenger was later identified as Ravi Kumar (Indian) who was supposed to travel to Dubai by Air India Express Airlines flight No. IX-141 (STD 1.30 pm)", stated the CISF.
On suspicion, he was diverted to a random checking point for thorough checking of his luggage. On checking his handbag through the X-BIS machine, some foreign currency concealed in the "False Bottom" of some gift-packed boxes of sweets was noticed.

Thereafter, the passenger was allowed to complete the check-in formalities and was kept under close watch through physical and electronic measures. The matter was also informed to Senior Officers of CISF and Customs officials.
As the passenger cleared the check-in and immigration formalities, he was intercepted by CISF surveillance and intelligence staff. The passenger along with his handbag was brought to the Departure Customs office, where on physical checking 15 gift-packed boxes of sweets/spices were noticed inside his baggage.

On close scrutiny of the boxes, it was noticed that "False Bottom" was created in the boxes and US Dollars were concealed to avoid detection. In total, 30,000 US Dollars were detected from the false bottom of the sweet boxes.
On checking his wallet, 4,500 US dollars were found inside the wallet. On enquiry, he could not produce valid documents to carry such an amount of foreign currency.

The passenger along with the detected 34,500 US Dollars worth approximately Rs 27 lakh was handed over to Customs officials for further action in the matter. (ANI)