Pune airport : 2 Men caught smuggling foreign currency worth Rs 35.41 lakhs
Sumit Singh
Pune, July 18,2019: The officers of customs at Pune international airport intercepted two passengers Balaji Mustapure and Mayur Bhaskar Patil in the departure area who allegedly were trying to smuggle out foreign currency through SpiceJet flight no. sg 51 on 16.07.2019.
Personal search of the passengers and their baggage resulted in recovery of foreign currency worth approximately Rs. 35.41 lakhs.
during enquiry, both passengers stated that the currency did not belong to them but had been given to them to be handed over to someone in Dubai.
The foreign currency which was Saudi Arabian Riyal was seized under the reasonable belief that the same was being attempted to be smuggled out of India and hence had become liable for confiscation under provisions of the Customs Act 1962 read with FEMA, 2000.
In the statement recorded under section 108 of the Customs Act 1962, the passengers admitted conscious posession, carriage and concealment of the currency. Further investigation is under process.
The entire operation was carried out under the supervision of Usha Bhoyar, deputy commissioner of Pune Customs. Other officers involved in the seizure and investigation are superintendents Vinita Pusdekar, Sanjay Zarekar.
The mandate of the Air Customs wing is to nab offenderrs involved in smuggling of gold, foreign currency, wildlife, traffiking of drugs etc. Persons interested in providing genuine information of smuggling and traffiking of drugs may provide same on phone no. 02026051846/26613799/26051848
