A container with antique idols, gems, paintings, and other antiques, was seized by the department of revenue intelligence (DRI) from Gujarat’s Mundra port. The items are suspected to be worth a whopping ₹26.8 cr in the market value.

The container with the artefacts originated from Dubai, UAE, however, authorities suspect that the artefacts were imported from England and the Netherlands by an unknown individual for personal use.  The DRI stated that the consignment was highly undervalued to evade Customs Duty.

The container came from Jebel Ali port of Dubai, and the goods inside were found as it was going under the verification at the port.

The artefacts may be from the 19th century

Sources said that some of the items are from the 19th century. These items are made of gold or silver, studded with gems, and some items are found to be gold or silver plated.

The container was declared as ‘unaccompanied baggage’ before customs. During the inspection, old antique idols, vintage utensils, paintings, old furniture, and other valuable antique items were found, with some of them believed to date back to the 19th century. 

Suspected smuggling of the artefacts

Due to the high demand for such antiques in the market, crores of worth of artefacts are smuggled frequently through ports. The perpetrators have, many a time, adopted various ways to work around the system. In a recent incident, betel nuts were smuggled in the guise of plastic grains.

The demand for such things creates a market for such smugglers, fetching them some fast, easy, albeit illegal money.

Currently, DRI has started an investigation into the matter, and the source of the container, or the identity of the recipient, is not yet known.

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