Lusaka, Zambia: Zambian customs officials arrested an Indian national while he had been trying to smuggle huge wads of money and gold through the southern African country’s main airport, NDTV reported..
The 27-year-old was on his way to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, when he was arrested for attempting to smuggle more than $2 million (Rs 17,07,74,505) in cash and gold worth $500,000.
The country’s Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) said that a multi-agency team at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport intercepted the man.
The agency said the man was found to be carrying $2,320,000 in cash and seven pieces of gold valued at $500,000.
The money, stacks of $100 bills bound together by rubber bands, was packed into a black bag set in a larger polypropylene suitcase.
DEC said that investigation into the incident was underway, adding that ‘those involved in trans-national organised crimes that the long arm of the law will catch up with them soon’.
In another smuggling incident in 2023, Zambian official arrested five Egyptians with a plane carrying weapons, 127 kilograms (280 pounds) of gold and $5.7 million in cash.
However, they were later released when prosecutors dropped espionage charges against them.
Zambia, nevertheless its vast reserves of minerals including copper and gold, has an impoverished economy with more than 60 per cent living in poverty, according to the World Bank.