Pune Customs Busts Rs 3.47 Crore Hawala Racket Involving US Currency

The Pune Customs Department's Air Intelligence Unit has broken a hawala racket involving Rs 3.47 crore in US currency. Two individuals were arrested: travel agent Khushbu Agarwal and Mumbai-based Mohd Aamir. Foreign currency was concealed in notebook pages within trolley bags by unsuspecting students flying from Dubai.

The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Pune Customs Department has dismantled a significant hawala racket involving approximately Rs 3.47 crore worth of US currency, arresting two suspects in the process, according to officials on Tuesday.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Khushbu Agarwal, a 41-year-old travel agent, and Mohd Aamir from Mumbai, who allegedly supplied the foreign currency. The operation also led to the seizure of assorted foreign currencies from a forex firm in Mumbai.

This operation was initiated following intelligence on a large stash of foreign currency hidden within notebooks and stored in two trolley bags, smuggled out of India by a person employing three unsuspecting travelers who arrived from Dubai to Pune via a Spice Jet flight on February 17.

Customs officers conducted thorough personal and baggage inspections of the passengers, unearthing USD 400,100, roughly equivalent to Rs 3.47 crore, from the luggage. During questioning, it was revealed that the passengers were students and the bags belonged to Pune-based travel agent Khushbu Agarwal.

Agarwal had reportedly provided a travel package to three students for their trip to Dubai. Just before their departure from Pune, she handed over two bags to them, claiming they contained her office documents urgently needed in Dubai. The students, unknowing of their contents, took the bags with them.

AIU officers detained Agarwal at Pune Airport and recorded her statements under the Customs Act. She eventually admitted ownership of the foreign currency, leading Customs officers to a forex firm in Mumbai where Mohd Aamir was apprehended. An operation at the firm uncovered additional foreign currencies from various countries.

The AIU and Customs officers expanded their investigation, executing searches across ten locations in Pune, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai, culminating in the suspects being remanded to judicial custody.

(With inputs from agencies.)