Kasaragod: A Kerala Excise Mobile Interception Unit (KEMU) - deployed to crack down on drug smuggling - foiled a suspected burglary getaway from Dakshina Kannada when the fleeing car slammed into a wall at Adhur in eastern Kasaragod on Wednesday.

A Swift car from Karnataka sped past the Adhur Excise Check Post on the narrow Adhur-Pallam-Kukkumkai Road, an alternative route to the Cherkala-Jalsoor State Highway 55. Suspicious of the vehicle, the Excise team followed the car. As the car neared Belligayil on the Mulleria-Badiadka Road, it swerved off the road and crashed into a concrete wall.

While the two passengers fled the scene by foot after the crash, Excise officials recovered 140.6 grams of gold jewellery and 339.2 grams of silver, estimated to be worth approximately ₹13 lakh. Additionally, ₹1,01,700 in cash was also recovered from the vehicle. The officials also found two broken locks, two hammers, and a fake number plate.

Adhur Police Station House Officer Sunumon K said that the car's number plate was fake. "We have submitted the seized items in court and alerted police stations in Dakshina Kannada to check for any reported burglaries last night," the inspector said. The first step would be to identify the car's owner, he added.