Three students returning to Pune from Dubai were intercepted at the airport when the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) discovered $400,100 concealed in their bags, which were falsely claimed to contain office documents from local travel agent Khushbu Agarwal. She had handed the students the bags just before their flight, ostensibly for urgent delivery. The AIU’s investigation revealed the bags were linked to a hawala operation smuggling U.S. currency. Following the students’ questioning, Agarwal was detained, and further searches in Mumbai identified additional foreign currency worth Rs 45 lakh, leading to the arrest of Mohammed Aamir, a supplier involved in the operation.
Pune:
Last week, three students arriving from Dubai were intercepted at Pune airport. A search of their bags by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Pune Customs Department uncovered $400,100 (approximately Rs 3.5 crore) hidden within the pages of books.
During questioning, it was revealed that the trolley bags belonged to Khushbu Agarwal, a travel agent based in Pune, who claimed they contained important office documents. The students had arranged their Dubai travel package through Ms. Agarwal.
“At the last minute before their flight from Pune, she handed the students two bags, citing that they contained urgent office documents needed at her Dubai office. The students accepted the bags and left Pune,” disclosed sources from the AIU.
“Upon interrogation, it emerged that the students were given some documents to deliver to an office in Dubai, unaware that foreign currency was concealed in their bags,” they further explained.
The operation, which disrupted a hawala racket involving US currency, was triggered by intelligence about a large sum of foreign currency being smuggled out of India in the two trolley bags with the help of the three passengers. The customs department notified their counterparts in Dubai and monitored the students closely.
Upon their return to Pune on February 17 via a SpiceJet flight, the AIU officers searched their bags and confiscated $400,100.
Ms. Agarwal was taken into custody shortly thereafter, and her statement was recorded under the Customs Act.
Further investigations directed officials to a forex firm located in Mumbai’s Fort area, where they recovered foreign currency valued at Rs 45 lakh after conducting a raid. Mohammed Aamir, who had supplied the US currency, was also arrested by the authorities.
Simultaneous searches were conducted by AIU and Customs officers at ten locations across Pune, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai.