Flight Attendant Arrested in Kerala for Smuggling of Gold

KOCHI: In a bizarre incident, a flight crew with Air India airlines was arrested for attempting to smuggle gold into the country.

Authorities revealed that one Shafi Sharaf, who is a native of the Wayanad region of Kerala, was caught with undocumented gold. Reports mentioned that the person had 1487 grams of the precious metal wrapped around his forearms. Apparently, his strategy was to conceal the gold in the sleeves of his shirt and go out via the green customs clearance channel. This gate is reserved for passengers who do no carry any dutiable goods that they need to declare.

The authorities had received a tip regarding the Air India crew member transporting gold to the country illegally. Based on the information, the Customs Preventive Commissionerate started the investigation into the crew members on the Bahrain-Kozhikode-Kochi flight and the perpetrator was apprehended from the Kochi airport. The investigation is still on as the accused Shafi Sharaf is being questioned by the authorities.

A picture of Shafi Sharaf with gold paste wrapped around both his arms was shared multiple times over social media. He was apprehended and taken into custody by the customs preventive wing at about 10:20 PM, about two hours after his flight from Bahrain landed in Kochi airport at 8:30 PM.

In a similar incident took place in the Chennai International Airport sometime back when gold bars worth Rs 3.32 Cr were seized by the department of customs. Two passengers including a Sri Lankan national were arrested in connection to that incident. Before that, a total of 68 gold bars weighing about 6.8 kilos were discovered hidden in the luggage of passengers. The passenger was said to have arrived in the city of Chennai from Singapore on Tuesday. The seizure was conducted based on specific inputs received by the authorities.

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