Dh2.2m gold and gems intercepted while ‘enroute’ to India…

Colombo: The customs at the Bandaranaike International airport thwarted an attempt to smuggle out gold and gems worth more than Rs 81 million (Dh2.2m) on Wednesday morning, ‘Mawbima’ reported.

An export company had delivered the contraband in two boxes to the customs baggage stores to be sent to Chennai, India.

The customs officials, who inspected the two boxes prior to being loaded to a Chennai-bound aircraft, detected the metal at about 3am in the morning.

They were gems weighing 63,276 carats worth Rs 64 million in one box, while the other box had 3,407 grams gold worth Rs. 17m.

Customs spokesman said that the owner of the company has been taken into the custody for further investigations.