Customs sleuths foil couple's bid to smuggle foreign currency at Kannur airport

Kochi: Customs sleuths assisted by CISF officials foiled an attempt by a couple to smuggle foreign currency worth lakhs of rupees through the Kannur International Airport on Wednesday night.

Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Sumit Kumar, said here Customs officials with assistance of CISF have registered a case against Abdulla Kuniyil from Kozhikode district and his wife Aslami Abdulla for allegedly smuggling the foreign currency to the UAE.

While Abdulla had tried to smuggle 50,000 UAE Dirhams, his wife Aslami Abdulla had concealed 25,000 UAE Dirhams in her handbag.

The total value of the seized foreign currency of 75,000 UAE Dirhams amounted to Rs 13.61 lakh.

Kumar said five cases of gold smuggling were detected in July alone from the Kannur airport and 4.312 kg of gold valued at Rs 1.47 crore was seized and two people were arrested.

The Kannur International Airport began operations in December 2018 and in 2019 alone, Customs officials have detected 25 cases of gold smuggling and seized nearly 21.635 kg of gold valued over Rs 7.15 crore.

Also, five attempts to smuggle foreign currencies valued at Rs 13.61 lakh and six cases of bid to smuggle contraband cigarettes valued over Rs 2.84 lakh were detected.