Indian airport customs officers seized $30,000 worth of gold disguised as screws holding together a suitcase allegedly belonging to a passenger coming from the Gulf.
Officers at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad uncovered the latest smuggling technique when they found metal screws and support rods for trolley wheels had been replaced with gold alternatives in an alleged attempt to avoid paying almost $4,000 in tax.
In a video shared by Indian media company ANI, the 64 screws and 16 rods recovered were shown to weigh 454g, more than 20 times the weight of gold that a passenger can import into India duty-free.
While the method of the alleged attempt at smuggling gold into Hyderabad may be unusual, the practice of passengers hoping to avoid paying government levy on gold is not uncommon.
In February, airport officials stopped 23 women, who had stopped off in Sharjah, travelling into the southern Indian city from Sudan
The passengers had almost 15kg of gold in their possession — either in their luggage or worn as jewellery — valued at almost $1 million.
The gold was seized and four of the women were arrested.
A month earlier, passenger profiling enabled officials to stop a man that travelled from Dubai to Hyderabad who customs officers said had hidden gold bars wrapped in plastic and attached to mobile phone cases.
The total haul weighed 583g and was worth around $37,000.
While gold exported from the UAE is tax-free, 10.75 per cent of the total value must be paid on gold imported into India.
Men can carry 20g of gold tax-free into the country, while women can take 40g duty free.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
more from Janine di Giovanni
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HAJJAN
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Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
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Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
FIXTURES
New Zealand v France, second Test
Saturday, 12.35pm (UAE)
Auckland, New Zealand
South Africa v Wales
Sunday, 12.40am (UAE), San Juan, Argentina
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
