Mumbai: The Mumbai Customs on Thursday seized 38kg gold worth Rs11.40 crore ($1.67 million, BD630,095) concealed among ladies footwear in a container, according to a report in The Times of India.
A city-based importer had declared the goods as women's bathroom slippers, brought in from Thailand. The consignment landed at Indira Docks on September 21 and was shifted to an examination shed for Customs examination.
The department carries out random checks of containers, about 10 per cent are screened, for contraband. "This is done either on intelligence or a built-in system that picks up consignments based on fixed parameters like country of origin, past imports and profile of importer,'' a customs official said. In this case, officials decided to examine the consignment as the company was a first-time importer.
An officer noticed suspicious images that prompted him to do a complete examination of the container when they found 38 gold bars concealed inside the slippers.
Sources said the gold had Thailand markings, which officers said was quite rare.