Pune’s customs dept seizes diamonds worth Rs 48.66 lakh

An attempt of illegally smuggling diamonds was foiled to India at Pune airport where a team of officials from the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) inspected the bag and seized the diamonds worth of Rs 48.66 lakh.

The officials of AIU attached to Pune Customs intercepted a passenger arriving from Sharjah on Thursday last week and based on the expert report that has been procured on Tuesday March 22, 2022 the complaint was registered under the relevant provision of The Customs Act, 1962.

According to the officer, “On Thursday last week while inspecting the passenger’s baggage we found the actions of the passengers to be suspicious. Upon investigation, we started checking luggages and found some plastic pouches. When we inspected further, we found over 3000 diamonds which were round brilliant cut and baguettes with a total weightage of 75 carat, which is estimated worth Rs 48.66 lakh. These pouches were concealed in a pair of trousers packed in the passenger bag.”

He adds, “Prima facie it seems that diamonds were attempted to smuggle into India illegally and based on which we have registered the case and investigation is going on.”