Couple smuggles watches, held Watches worth Rs1.82cr found on SoBo duo

Couple smuggles watches, held

Watches worth Rs1.82cr found on SoBo duo

A couple from Grant Road, who allegedly tried to smuggle 13 high-end Hublot watches worth Rs1.82 crore brought from Dubai, were arrested at the international airport around 3am on Friday. The arrested accused, Mohammad Yusuf Kalva, 52 and his wife Famida, 42, are are residents of Grant Road. Famida, had wrapped the watches in a waist pouch and slid it inside the burqa she was wearing, said customs officials. Customs officials said they had a tip-off about a couple arriving by an Emirates flight with smuggled watches. A team led by assistant commissioner of customs Sameer Wankhede arrested the couple. After landing at the city airport, the Kalva got an inkling that customs officials were on their trail. On sensing trouble, Famida dropped the bag she had and quickly lined up at the green channel exit with her husband who had one Rolex watch worth Rs15 lakh. At the green channel, they were stopped by customs officials for interrogation. In the meantime, immigration officers who had by then found the waist pouch full of expensive watches at the immigration counter alerted the customs officials. The Kalva couple confessed to their crime, said officials at the airport. They have told the Air Intelligence Unit that they smuggled the watches as there is a heavy demand for such expensive accessories during the festival season. “With Diwali around the corner, Mohammad had Famida expected to make a killing by selling the smuggled booty,” said a customs officer. Officers also stumbled upon 4 kg of smuggled saffron which was stuffed with spices. Customs officials will probe who was to buy the watches from the accused.