Keralite wanted in gold smuggling racket held

Coimbatore: A person wanted in connection with a gold smuggling racket was Monday arrested at the city airport.

Police said Yasir Mohammed of Muvattupuzha in Kerala was part of a nine-member gang, which had allegedly smuggled over 1,000 kgs of gold through the Cochin International Airport in a period of less than two years.

Customs officials took Yasir into custody when he arrived at the city airport from Sharjah by an Air Arabia flight around 4 AM.

The racket was busted in May this year after the Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB) of the Customs seized 13 kgs of gold, hidden under the seats of a bus ferrying passengers from an aircraft to the terminal at the Cochin airport.

Last month, provisions of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA) were invoked against the gang members.

Police from Kerala are expected to arrive in the city for further investigation.