In a rare incident that bucked the trend of smuggling in saffron from outside, the Customs Air Intelligence Unit at the Cochin International Airport busted an attempt to smuggle it out when they seized 8 kg of the expensive commodity hidden in the baggage of a passenger headed for Dubai on Thursday morning.
A resident of Kasargod has been detained and interrogated by Customs officials in this regard after the contraband was detected during baggage screening. The saffron has been sent to the Regional Analytical Laboratory in Kochi for further tests even as the Customs Department roped in the expertise of the Spices Board to verify the quality of the seized item.
“As per preliminary reports, the saffron seized was a much more superior Kashmiri variant than the commonly smuggled Iranian variant and attracted far greater market value in the international market.
