The CBI also raided some premises of three Customs House agents, who were associated with the clearance of baggage of the three passengers. The searches however, drew a blank.

The Customs officers raided are B A D'Mello (assistant commissioner), superintendents Shashidharan, Pargi and Ms Vaidya, and preventive officers Gujaran, Dhruve and Yadav.

In fact, it was the customs' own Marine and Preventive Wing that discovered the fraud. The M and P apparently had information that these practices were on in the UB Centre. Sources reveal that the M and P officers intercepted the baggage after its clearance from the docks. When the declarationforms were examined, and an inventory of the baggage was made, the goods were found to be misdeclared, both in value and description.

While the total value of goods was about Rs 70 lakh, the declarations made were to the tune of only Rs four lakh, CBI sources informed. Besides the undervaluation, unaccounted/undeclared goods were also found.

The UB staff had examined the goods before the clearance, and had in fact, even raised the value from the declared value, but only minimally. (The Rs four lakh value is this raised value).

In one case, where the declared value was Rs 80,000, the baggage was found (by the M and P) to be worth Rs 20 lakh. The CBI came into the picture after the M and P seized the goods.

A case had been registered by the CBI under various sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act, CBI sources said. The UB facility is being increasingly misused due to the concessions in duty given to passengers who bring in goods under the Transfer of Residence rules.