Surat Customs Seize 53,000 carats over Wrongful Disclosure
June 01, 21
(IDEX Online) - Customs officials in Surat, India, seized two consignments of loose "lab grown" diamonds that were over the declared weight - and were actually higher-value natural gems.
They were being sent from the tax-free Surat Special Economic Zone and were destined for Hong Kong, via Mumbai airport.
The owner of Universal Diamonds, Meet Kachhadiya, wrongly declared the diamonds, said the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Customs and Central Excise after confiscating the stones on Sunday.
The total value of the gems is at least $2.7m, they say.
One consignment was declared as 12,000 carats but actually weighed 26,000 carats. Another, declared as 20,000 carats, was actually 27,000 carats, according to The Indian Express newspaper.
Sources tell the paper that Universal Diamonds was established in February 2021 and had sent 25 consignments of diamonds to Hong Kong.
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