The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), in a joint operation with the Customs, arrested a senior cabin crew of Spice Jet allegedly for smuggling gold worth ₹1.07 crore at the Kochi airport on Friday. The arrested was identified as Manhas Abulaise of Palakkad.
It is learnt that the accused was serving as a cabin crew of Spice Jet flight SG 147 that arrived at the Kochi airport from Ras al Khaimah in the UAE in the afternoon. The gold in compound form in five packets was reportedly found concealed in his body. He was arrested following a tip-off. The gold in compound form weighed 2.55 kg and, eventually, 2.20 kg of it was extracted.
Similar smuggling bids
The accused reportedly confessed to his involvement in similar smuggling attempts before. The DRI continued to interrogate him and the accused would be produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) on Saturday.
The agency said it suspected that smugglers were luring cabin crew to overcome the pandemic blues in the wake of substantial drop in international flights and passengers. An investigation was on to find out whether more flight crews were involved in such smuggling attempts.
