Lankan held with diamonds, precious stones at Chennai Airport

Air customs officials seized four diamonds and 30 precious stones worth 9.5 lakh from a man who landed at the Chennai Airport from Colombo on Monday. The man had concealed the contraband in his rectum.

Customs’ intelligence officials were monitoring passengers who arrived by a Sri Lankan Airlines flight when they spotted the man as a potential suspect. He was intercepted and asked whether he was carrying any dutiable goods.

He replied in the negative, but officials knew that he might be carrying contraband. He was taken to a room and a detailed check was done during which he confessed that he was carrying valuables in a pouch in his rectum.

The pouch contained four diamonds weighing four carats and 30 blue and yellow sapphires weighing 174 carats.

“The passenger told us he was a carrier and was smuggling the valuables for money,” said a customs official. An official said: “The suspect was planning to take the precious stones from Chennai to Jaipur on the same day. This is the first time a carrier is bringing diamonds and precious stones from Sri Lanka after a gap. We are not sure if this is a one-off case or beginning of a start of a new trend.”

Courtesy: The Times of India