Customs Department officials at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on Tuesday were successful in nabbing four passengers returning to the country with a total of 700 gm of gold as they were being smuggled, reports said. The worth of the gold seized on Tuesday alone amounts to Rs 23.19 lakh.
In the first instance a total of 496 gm of gold were found in the rectum of three women in the wee hours of Tuesday. According to officials, the three Tamil origin woman flying from Colombo in a Sri Lankan Airlines flight were detained after suspicion. Later on detailed examination, it was found that the trio had collectively put gold paste covered with plastic sheaths in their rectum.
The women were hoping to pass through the metal detectors as the metal was in the form of a paste but were under the radar during passenger profiling. When they grew suspicious, the officials questioned them and later a medical examination proved their suspicion to be right.
In a separate incident, one flier of Andhra Pradesh origin was caught with 200 gm of gold strapped in his body as he reached Bengaluru from Kuwait in an Emirates flight, Incidents like this have been repeating for some time now.
In another incident which came to light in December 30, 2018, a total of 4.4 kg of gold worth Rs 1.45 crore concealed in private parts was seized from three persons flying in from Dubai including one woman from Sudan based on a tip-off.
That time too, gold was hidden in the rectum in the form of pieces from a Kerala man who was headed to his hometown.
The woman from Sudan had 1.3 kg of gold biscuits hidden in her private parts in the form of biscuits while 1.4 kg of gold in the same form was found in his denim shorts which he was wearing under his trousers.
