Delhi Customs seizes outbound undeclared diamonds worth Rs 1.56 cr

New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) In one of the largest such seizures, Customs officers here have seized a consignment of polished diamonds worth Rs 1.56 crore being sent out of India under false labelling, officials said on Friday.

According to the information, the parcel was detected by officers of Air Cargo Export Commissionerate on Thursday.

"When the officials examined a consignment declared as plastic hot fix with a value of Rs 5,000, they got suspicious. The said consignment was then opened. On examination, a packet containing pouches of cut and polished diamonds was found inside it. These diamonds were concealed very ingeniously in the packets of 'plastic hot fix'," said an official.

The official said that packet of diamonds also had the hot fix pasted on it to avoid detection.

The said consignment, worth Rs 1.56 crore, was meant to be sent to Hong Kong.

"This appears to be a unique case of sending diamonds out of the country through concealment in the parcels through air cargo. This is one of the largest seizures of polished diamonds at Air Cargo Export, Delhi in recent times. We have informed the other agencies regarding it," said the official.

Further investigations in the matter are on.