Biggest ever customs haul as RS. 27 cr watch seized

Customs Department at Delhi Airport seized a diamond-studded white gold wristwatch worth 27 crores. Apart from this seven high-end timepieces were seized by customs officials, on Thursday. Officials said that the diamond-studded bracelet and an iPhone 14 Pro were seized from a passenger who arrived from Dubai. Officials said that the passenger smuggled these items to avoid the duties and levies on such products. They said that it was “the biggest seizure” at the Indira Gandhi International Airport of commercial or luxury goods. Customs officials said, “One of the watches, made by American jeweler and watchmaker Jacob & Co, is an extraordinarily exorbitant, customized billionaire piece made of gold and studded with diamonds.” The Swiss-made “Billionaire III Baguette White Diamonds 54 x 43 mm watch” is described as being crafted of 18-karat white gold and set with 76 white diamonds on the listing page for the wristwatch. Its skeleton dial is covered with diamonds. It also has a manual-winding. The officials stated that a search of the passenger’s baggage resulted in the recovery of six other wristwatches, including a Piaget Limelight Stella and five Rolexes. The Piaget costs nearly 31 lakh. Rolexes cost around 15 lakh each. The cost of seized items is over 28 crore.
Chief Commissioner, Delhi Customs Zone Surjit Bhujabal in a statement said that all this was possible only because of alert, on-duty customs officials. He said, “Alert customs officers at Delhi Airport have made this possible in spite of having such high passenger traffic. Indian Customs have always ensured maximum facilitation with minimal disturbance to genuine passengers simultaneously ensuring the safeguard of economic frontiers by curbing smuggling.”
Commissioner Airport Delhi Customs Zubair Riaz Kamili said, “In commercial or luxury goods, it is the biggest seizure in value terms at the IGI Airport in one go. In value terms, it is equivalent to seizing around 60 kg of gold in one instance.”