Dubai Customs foiled the smuggling of gold bars weighing three kilograms, which were in the possession of a traveler coming from an African country, after being suspected and trying to deceive the inspectors by transferring them to her friend's bag.
Khalifa bin Shaheen, director-in-charge at Terminal 3 said that one of the inspectors of Dubai Customs suspected one of the bags of travelers coming from an African country. The inspector noticed the presence of what looked like alloys.
When the suspect collected the baggage, the field team watched and followed her to the checkpoint. She tried to mislead the customs officers, as she took out the bullion and passed it to the next owner on the same trip, where she put it in the hand luggage, thinking that this trick would succeed to smuggle the bullions. At the exit gate, the duty inspector asked her if she had anything to declare, but she denied. The handbag was searched and three pure 24-carat gold bullions weighing three kilograms were found.
Bin Shaheen stressed that Dubai Customs has a very advanced inspection system that enables them to strike the balance between facilitating passenger traffic and protecting the society from the penetration of dangerous, prohibited and restricted materials.
He added, "Some people try to exploit the facilities and quick procedures that are applied at Dubai airports with miserable attempts to smuggle drugs, gold and precious stones, but all these attempts fail at the hands of a cadre of competent inspectors and the support of assistive devices and advanced systems."