21 flyers from one flight caught smuggling gold in bottles
Mumbai Customs' Air Intelligence Unit on Sunday night arrested 21 passengers from a single flight for smuggling over 100 pieces of gold valued at ?1.7 crore. The passengers, who were from a UP village, were allegedly working for a Lucknow-based gold smuggling syndicate and had hidden the gold in water bottles. They had arrived by a Jet Airways Jeddah-Mumbai flight. 
On Sunday night, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs arrested 21 passengers (including one woman) from a single flight for smuggling 112 cut pieces of gold bars, weighing 5.665 kg valued at Rs 1.70 crore.All these passengers arrived by Jet Airways flight from Jeddah to Mumbai. During examination, it was found that all 112 cut pieces of gold bars were concealed by sticking them onto the inner side of the caps of the water bottles and by sticking them to the bottom of the bottles carried by them.The statement recorded by airport officials revealed that all passengers belong to the village Tanda in Rampur district, Uttar Pradesh. They acted as carriers for one Lucknow-based gold smuggling syndicate. All passengers were arrested and subsequently released on bail.It was a major operation and first of its kind in recent past wherein a group of 21 carriers has been arrested and their organised smuggling activities have been unearthed.OTHER RECENT CASES In another incident on Monday, one passenger namely Hameed Ahmed Shaikh (57), a Mumbai resident was apprehended for carrying 16 pieces of gold bars weighing 1856 grams worth Rs 55 lakhs. He had arrived from Dubai via Muscat by Oman Air flight.In this case, all the gold bars were bundled together in the form of a cube and wrapped with cello tape and concealed in his pocket. The passenger runs a catering business from Undria Street, Nagpada.In the third incident on Monday night, one Sudanese national Yaseen Mohd Ali was arrested for smuggling 500 grams of assorted gold jewellery valued at Rs 14.75 lakh. Arrived from Riyadh, the passenger is a businessman in Sudan and buys readymade clothes and electric wires in Mumbai to sell the same in Sudan.