Nine Kenyan women are in Indian custody after they were arrested at the Mumbai Airport for attempting to smuggle Sh156.4 million worth of gold.
Officials said the incident captured by CCTV showed the nine engaging in a fracas with the airport guards in an attempt to shift attention from their illegal gold business on Wednesday.
The incident happened days after 19 Sudanese women were held for carrying 18 kilograms of gold worth a similar amount.
According to airport security, the women refused to be searched and caused a scene at the airport while others tried to run.
The Kenyan embassy in India has since been informed and officials are following up on the matter.
“When these women were asked to cooperate, they started creating a ruckus. The entire thing was recorded on CCTV and monitored by our officials. Some of the suspects tried to escape but they were overpowered and detained,” stated an official at the airport.
The women reportedly hid the 18.28 kilogram of gold worth Sh156,426,564 (Rs 9.4 crore) in a fake designer bag.
Police bounced into action following a tip-off from the Air Intelligence Unit of the Mumbai Customs Department accusing the passengers of failing to declare the goods at the airport after arriving from Nairobi, Kenya.
Police officers arrested the suspects and recorded their statements as investigations commenced.
It is believed the nine were employed by a bigger gold smuggling syndicate located in Mumbai, place officials termed the hub of gold smugglers.
According to reports, at least 640 kilograms of gold worth Sh6 billion (Rs 360 crore) had been seized at the airport.
The syndicates are said to use foreign women to sneak gold into the country.
The suspects aged between 26 and 47 years were associated with the garment business and traveled to India on a tourist visa.
They were not given the option of bail.
“They are wrongly framed in the case and the bag containing the gold does not belong to them. The smuggled consignment was not found in their personal possession. They have been sent to judicial custody,” their lawyer defended them.
The practice is common in India even though it is deemed illegal.
