Three Kenyan women arrested at Mumbai Airport for smuggling Sh22m gold
Three Kenyan women have been arrested in India for allegedly being in possession of concealed gold.
Custom officials at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport said the three were caught trying to smuggle concealed gold into the country.
According to reports, authorities seized over three kilograms of gold valued at Sh22 million from the three Kenyan women who arrived from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Friday.
The gold was concealed in their undergarments and the sole of their shoes.
“All the passengers are Kenyan national women. One of them was found to have concealed gold in the sole of her footwear, another woman had concealed gold in undergarment and in one case, the woman had concealed it in her body part,” said a Customs official.
Also read: Kenyan passenger used oxygen cylinder on ‘sick’ infant to smuggle Sh54 million gold to India
Customs officials are investigating from whom the suspects procured the gold and who was supposed to receive the consignment in Mumbai.
Last week, a Kenyan passenger from Nairobi was arrested in India after he faked sickness on an infant intending to smuggle Sh54 million in gold.
The Kenyan, whose identity is yet to be made public, allegedly arrived at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport while carrying a portable oxygen concentrator and had attached the mask to the infant’s face.
This is not the first time passengers travelling between Kenya and India have been nabbed while possessing gold.
Last month, two crew members of Kenya Airways (KQ) flights were arrested at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport with concealed gold.
Also read: Weapon ties: Inside the Sh67.3m gold scam and what DCI is uncovering
Indian authorities said the two landed at the Mumbai airport from Nairobi on two separate flights and were found with the concealed gold. Carrying concealed gold is a criminal offence in India.
In a statement, Kenya Airways stated that it does not condone the breaking of local and international laws.
“Kenya Airways (KQ) has received information that The Mumbai Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) has detained two of our employees for lack of proper documentation relating to precious metals found in their possession.”
“The matter is under investigation, and KQ is cooperating with the investigating agencies. KQ has zero tolerance towards any action of its employees that contravenes local or international laws prevalent in the countries of its operations,” KQ noted.
Also read: How senior government officer was arrested trying to rescue Sh67m gold scam suspect