Two Indian travellers’ flyers were taken from them at the Kolkata airport. Where the gold worth Rs. 1.5 crore was also confiscated. On Friday, they were travelling home from Bangkok to Kolkata on an early-morning Spice Jet aircraft. Javed Iqbal‘s possession included up to 124 gold coins and a gold chain weighing about 1.1 kg. For the time being Md. Savir’s seat was discovered to always have 2.8 kg of gold paste.
The accordance with customs authorities, Air Intelligence Unit personnel searched the two passengers. In the wake of receiving a tip and discovered a significant amount of illicit gold that they were bringing into India. Iqbal was freed by Customs after they seized the gold, but Savir is still in their custody, according to authorities.
In addition to the quality of the gold, investigators claimed that the main driver of smuggling is the price disparity between Indian and Thai markets.
Smugglers who smuggle gold out of Bangkok make more than Rs 10 lakh each kilogram.
The cost difference between the Indian and Bangkok markets for a tola (10 grams) is around Rs 10,000 to Rs 10,500. This indicates that for transporting gold from Bangkok, traffickers make more than Rs 10 lakh per kg. Additionally, India has severe laws governing the purchase of gold, which makes smuggling more appealing. A male Indian traveler may carry duty-free jewelry worth Rs 50,000, while a lady may bring jewelry worth Rs 1 lakh.
The traveler must spend more than a year living abroad. Any additional gold jewelry that is transported is subject to customs tax. With the payment of a 10% customs tax, an Indian passport holder who has spent six months abroad continuously may carry up to one kilogram of gold in the form of coins, biscuits, or other jewelry. If the six-month stay requirement is not met, the duty is 36%. Smugglers try to avoid paying this high tax.
