Following confessions from two employees of Skygourmet Flight Kitchen and two men who were supposed to receive the consignments, AIU officers set up a three hour operation and subsequently apprehended four smugglers, seizing 6.79 kg of gold, worth Rs 1.65 crore.
The catering company's employees admitted to having successfully cleared at least 30 smuggled gold consignments. For each job, the handler would give the two employees the seat number where the hidden gold would be found via Whatsapp. The men would then retrieve the gold from beneath the seat cushions before stashing it in the food cart in order to remove it from the aircraft unnoticed. This was repeated several times before the gold was ultimately transported from the airport via the men's usual exit, using a taxi, which would then take the loot to the handler. Once caught, the two men assisted the authorities in tracking down their handler, and, following a car chase, he was apprehended and consequently incriminated yet another conspirator involved in the operation
