A woman passenger was on Thursday arrested at the airport in Bengaluru for allegedly smuggling in more than 31,000 memory cards worth Rs 64 lakh from Hong Kong by hiding them in her stockings, a top customs official said.
The seizure was made when Rosy Bhatia, who identified herself as a Delhi-based garment dealer and a frequent traveller to Hong Kong and Singapore, was intercepted by customs personnel after she opted for the green channel exit (for passengers having no dutiable and prohibited goods).
Though an examination of her baggage revealed nothing illegal, during a body search she was found carrying 31,520 micro SD cards (memory cards) "concealed in pouches hidden inside her stockings beneath the salwar she was wearing", Customs Commissioner Bani Bhattacharya told PTI.
During interrogation, she professed to be Delhi-based garment dealer who used to frequently fly from Delhi and Mumbai to Hong Kong and Singapore to supply garments.
She was to hand over this consignment to a person who was supposed to contact her on her arrival. "Finding her versions to be conflicting, we immediately arrested her", he said.
She was later produced before a judicial magistrate and granted bail.
A search was on for the person who was supposed to meet the woman at the airport, police said.