Bengaluru: Customs officials at the Kempegowda International Airport thwarted gold smuggling attempts and seized 1.133 kg of gold valued at an estimated Rs. 67.57 lakh.
The officials found the gold concealed in a blouse worn by a suspect, in a packet of dry fruits and another suspect’s rectum.
In a statement, Bengaluru Air Customs said that two of the suspects were of Indian origin, while another was Malaysian. The seizures were made on Friday and Saturday.
The agency said an Indian-origin passenger from Kuala Lumpur on flight AK-053 attempted to smuggle 300.95 grams of gold valued at Rs.17.9 lakh in the form of paste and concealed it inside the blouse she wore.
The second Indian-origin suspect attempted to smuggle 40 pieces of gold from Kuwait via Gulf Air flight GF 282 by concealing it in a packet of dry fruits. The suspect also attempted to bring in an iPhone 14 Pro Max worth Rs 1.49 lakh, the agency said. The third suspect, a Malaysian-origin woman, was caught by officials while she tried to smuggle 578.27 grams of gold paste from Kuala Lumpur via flight AK-053 by hiding it inside her rectum.
“Further proceedings are under process,” the agency said.
(Published 21 October 2023, 21:26 IST)