Man conceals foreign currency worth Rs 14 lakh in socks, held at Mumbai airport

The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) officials on Friday arrested a man who was leaving for Dubai with foreign currency equivalent Rs 14.08 lakh at the Mumbai airport.

The accused had concealed the foreign currency in his socks and a trolley bag but was intercepted based on profiling late on Thursday.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, The personal search of the said passenger resulted in the recovery of 13000 Saudi riyal concealed in the socks worn by him. Further detailed examination of 2 trolley bags, kept one inside the other, which he was carrying as hand baggage resulted in the recovery of 38,500 Saudi riyal, 18,300 UAE dirham, 350 Omani riyal, 1,750 Qatar riyal and $200 which was cleverly concealed in the hollow pipes of the handle bars of the said 2 trolley bags.

An AIU officer said, "The same has been seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1965 read with Chapter 3.11 of the FEMA, 2000, Para 5 & 6 of the Foreign Exchange Management (Export & Import Currency) Regulation, 2000 and under the reasonable belief that the same were meant to be smuggled out of India." (as reported by Hindustan Times)

The AIU said the passenger has admitted he did not have valid documents to carry the currency out of India and that he had concealed them to avoid detection. He admitted recovery, concealment, non-declaration and ownership of the foreign currencies under seizure.